


Frontier Pursuits

by Syn2554



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Animal Death, Casual Sex, Gay, Guns, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Medicinal Drug Use, Nudity, Period-Typical Racism, Prostitution, Religious References, Smut, Violence, commitment issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:54:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 148,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22677493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syn2554/pseuds/Syn2554
Summary: Outlaws, outcasts, outlanders. These seven men have nowhere to go but on, nothing to their names but their horses and their guns. Little do they know, the world isn't big enough for their kind anymore.
Relationships: Jeon Jungkook/Park Jimin, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Min Yoongi | Suga, Kim Seokjin | Jin/Kim Taehyung | V
Comments: 135
Kudos: 79





	1. INDEX

**Author's Note:**

> This is a BTS fanfic set in the RDR2 universe during the RDR2 story (around 1890?). No, it does not feature your RDR2 favs at this point, but cameos do appear. I am researching and aiming for as much accuracy as possible, but it is a work of fiction and just for fun, so please take the historical accuracy with a grain of salt!

Outlaws, outcasts, outlanders. These seven men have nowhere to go but on,

nothing to their names but their horses and their guns.

Little do they know, the world isn't big enough

for their kind anymore.

**Horse Rustler**

Age: 25

Horse: Lady

Hoseok is an only child, raised by his widower father on a small horse farm. When his father was killed in a train accident, Hoseok sold his father's prized herd and set off, away from the memories of his only family, to start a life of his own. Knowing nothing but horses, he took to stealing and re-selling them to make a living.

**Bounty Hunter**

Age: 24

Horse: Tilly

Having ventured away from his family at a young age, Jimin was always comfortable roughing it, sleeping under the stars, and travelling with nothing but his horse and shotgun. One day on the road he met a wagon of juvenile prisoners on their way to a job, and he impulsively helped break them out.

**Moonshiner**

Age: 25

Horse: Voltaire

Kim Namjoon, eldest son of Kim Joonhyung, was being groomed to inherit the family brewing business, and with it, he was expected to marry a young girl he'd known his whole life. Finally of age, Namjoon realised how much he dreaded the idea, and escaped his family to choose his own path.

**Trader**

Age: 27

Horse: De La Luna

A farmer on a large estate in New Hannover since he was seventeen, Seokjin sought a more private and independent life, and took up hunting. Setting off with a well-bred horse and not a cent to his name, he found a life in creating merchandise from game.

**Bounty Hunter**

Age: 24

Horse: Frost

Always the mischeif maker, Taehyung couldn't help but pull off every prank that came to his mind. His father kicked him out at fourteen years of age, and it was only six months before he was captured by authorities and made to serve in juvenile detention until he was an adult. Luckily for him, he manged to convince a stranger to help break him out when he was seventeen, and they decided to stay together since then.

**Bounty Hunter**

Age: 26

Horse: Mateo

At eighteen years of age, Yoongi decided that the quiet life his parents led was not what he wanted, and he left home with his brother Jungook to find his own way. In the bustling city of Saint Denis, Yoongi and Jungkook found themselves drinking in a tavern, and met the suave and interesting Moonshine dealer Namjoon.

**Trader**

Age: 22

Horse: Denali

Ambitious and full of life, Jungkook was thrilled when his older brother Yoongi told him of his plans to leave the farm and start a new life. After some arguing, the elder let him tag along, and Jungkook has stuck to him like glue ever since.

Shire horse, Mare, 11 years old.

Bred as a driving horse but trained to ride by Hoseok after he found her by a crashed cart, the driver of which had met an unfortunate end.

**__ **

Breton, Mare, 7 years old.

An energetic little tank of a mare, Tilly is brave and spirited, the perfect match for her youthful rider. She sometimes struggles to keep up a gallop, but she is the perfect dependible mount for Jimin.

**__ **

Turkoman, Mare, 8 years old.

Classy, slender, sassy, intelligent, Voltaire lives up to her electric name in every way. Namjoon raised her from a foal and taught her to be ridden, and despite them making a good team, she has a tendency to act up at the most inopportune times.

Kladruber horse, Mare, 16 years old.

Exceptional bloodlines from imported stock, De la Luna was a birthday gift to Seokjin, and she adores him as much as he does her.

Nokota, Mare, 6 years old.

The sweetest-looking mare on the surface, Frost is a real artist in her deception. Everyone who has ever touched her has been bitten or kicked, and not a soul would dare ride her until she met Jung Hoseok. It was only then that she became more than just a pack pony for Taehyung.

Criollo, Stallion, 9 years old.

Pronounced muh-TAY-oh, named after a childhood friend of Yoongi's, the stallion was an expensive purchase Yoongi made when the colt was just two years old, and after a long and difficult journey, they turned into a dynamic duo that are meant for each other.

American Standardbred, Mare, 13 years old.

A sturdy and reliable mare for Jungkook, Denali is a one-in-a-million mount with a sensible personality, but the ability to really kick it into gear when necessary. Her name means 'Wolf.' Despite that, she is _very_ afraid of wolves.

[ ](https://www.gtabase.com/images/red-dead-redemption-2/locations/Red-Dead-Redemption-2-Full-World-Map.jpg)


	2. Waxwings and Bluejays

__

_Chapter Glossary:_

**Rag proper:** Dress well

**'shine:** Moonshine, an illicit alcohol commonly brewed in the late 1800s/early 1900s (when this fic is set)

**Yer** : your/you're (only some members will have this bastardisation of the pronunciation, as some have slightly thicker accents)

~~~~~~~~~~

_ Yoongi’s POV  _

Just before noon on a September morning the sun was beating down over West Elizabeth, the air humid with the promise of afternoon storms. Dry grass on the plains swayed with a slight breeze. Familiar curves of the land guided us to our destination, dust flying behind the thunder of hooves. A downpour would cover our tracks, which was exactly what we needed. Not that bandits would follow us in a thunderstorm anyway. Too much risk.

Astride a white roan Nokota mare, Taehyung confidently led the charge at a breakneck gallop, pointing his speedy mount in the direction of the most cover: the forest surrounding Strawberry. We splashed through a low point in the Upper Montana River, losing just enough ground to let our pursuers round a corner and see us. Pistol bullets whizzed past us at head level, luckily finding only rock and trees. The horses—spooked now—charged on harder, needing no encouragement from their riders. 

Chomping at his bit, my stallion Mateo grunted with each stride, catching up to Jimin’s heavy mount in front of us and coming up beside her. As though encouraging, Mateo nipped at her shoulder, not slowing his gallop, but urging her on. Jimin, turned to me for just a second, his eyes crinkling into a mischievous smirk even under the half mask, thick black strands of hair whipping about his forehead. I couldn’t help but grin after meeting his eyes. Danger was just a part of the job description.

We dashed through the familiar formation of pine trees at the forest’s edge. Now in cover, we split up, leaving three sets of tracks in the underbrush, startled wildlife scattering in every direction. As usual, our pursuers dropped away before we found ourselves too close to town, and a shout from Taehyung had us regrouping by the Strawberry stables. I trotted Mateo up to my partners and stopped him beside Tilly, Jimin’s small red-dappled Breton mare. Mateo and Tilly were the best of friends, and it was safest to keep your distance from Taehyhung’s mare Frost. Her personality matched her name. 

Taehyung looked at me expectantly, panting slightly with sweat plastering his fringe to his face. He pulled the bandanna from his face and let it rest at the base of his neck, and Jimin and I did the same.

“Let me go already!” came a frustrated grumble from behind me. I responded by drawing my bolt action rifle and smacking the butt of it against the side of our bound bounty’s head. Mateo shifted as the criminal’s body slumped with a pained groan rumbling in his throat. 

From the north came a horse and cart, and we turned to watch it approach. Clearly designed for holding prisoners, the wagon was armoured and driven by an armed guard with a wide-brimmed hat and a full moustache. Jimin climbed off his mount as the guard approached and handed me her reins before dragging the slack body off Mateo’s rump. 

“Couldn’t get this one alive?” the guard questioned as he eased the cart horse to a halt. 

“He’s alive,” I defended, and Taehyung grinned widely.

“Just taking a nap,” he added gleefully, his brows spiking at me for a second before he glanced over at the guard. Taehyung was never happier than when we were about to get paid. Jimin hauled our bounty into the back of the wagon, and the man groaned again, clarifying that we had been telling the truth.

“Well, that’s that then. Here’s yer payment, gentlemen.” Jimin nodded gratefully at the guard as he took the folded notes.

“Our pleasure,” he replied, already turning to come back to his horse. We didn’t stick around to watch the prison wagon leave. A little worn out from the chase, we let our horses find a leisurely pace for the few miles back to camp.

Nestled beside the woods in a curve of Hawks Eye Creek, a collection of tents flapped in the evening wind, and if it wasn’t already obvious that the storm was almost here, lightning brightened the sky to the south followed by a thunder clap a few moments later. As we stopped to dismount and untack our horses, the first drops began to fall. Undoing straps and buckles on my horse’s bridle with practiced ease, I let my eyes drift through the camp. We’d been gone two days, but returning felt the same as always. 

Namjoon sat on a wooden chair, his legs crossed at the ankles, boots resting on the table. He glanced up as the rain finally pulled him out of his distracted musing, and with a sigh, he pulled his feet to the dirt below his chair and stood. 

“You’re back,” Namjoon observed and sauntered over, slowing to stroke his tall, slender mare’s mane as he passed her. “How did it go?”

“How it always goes,” I mumbled, my eyes on my horse again as I lifted the heavy leather saddle from his back. Mateo almost immediately sauntered away to find a patch of grass. My arms protested as I carried his saddle to the hitching post to place it down. I finally met Namjoon’s curious, eager eyes, rubbing my bicep to work some soreness from my muscles. “We got the bad guy, and we got paid.”

“Nobody hurt?” Namjoon asked as he passed me, looking over Taehyung and Jimin as they released their horses to graze. Mateo seemed to decide his grass was better for rolling in, and flailed his legs in the air joyfully while scratching his back and cleaning sweat from his coat. 

“Zero casualties, master Joon,” Taehyung confirmed, dumping his saddle with less care than it deserved on the back of a chair that looked about to tip. As though from out of nowhere, the youngest member of our camp appeared and collected our tack, stacking it neatly inside our storage tent out of the way. Jungkook was just twenty-two, and while not a lot younger than the rest of us, he acted younger than he was. I watched him for a while, ready to correct him if he did anything wrong. I was his older brother after all.

I approached the storage tent and unbuckled my black leather gun belt. “Good to see you back safe,” Jungkook said with a smile, his arms shining with sweat from working hard all day, I assumed. In just a vest and jeans, he didn’t look as young as he was. We’d been away from our childhood home for years now, and we hadn’t stopped working since. It shaped him into a man, but underneath, he was still my little brother, and I felt not only protective of him, but also completely responsible for him. So, while I was out hunting bounty targets, he was here with Seokjin, working to turn the game we’d hunted into merchandise. 

Seokjin was a man I could trust with my brother. Mature, sensible, and always thinking of our safety first. Namjoon introduced us to the tall, quiet trader a year ago now. He seemed the type to keep to himself, but with a little convincing he decided to join our nomadic lifestyle and rapidly thrived as a caretaker for the rowdy bunch we were. Seokjin could patch up wounds so they healed with hardly a scar, stitch bullet holes in clothing so they seemed to disappear, and brew concoctions to cure any sickness we’d come across. If anyone among us was utterly irreplaceable, it was Seokjin. 

Speak of the Devil, Seokjin bustled towards myself and the other two hunters, three wooden cups in his hands that brimmed with steam. “Tea first, then you can have some stew,” he commanded in a characteristically motherly way. I nodded in thanks as he whizzed past me, taking my cup and almost spilling it. 

“It’s good,” Jungkook assured me, not having to look over to know what had just transpired. He cleaned grass and spit from Mateo’s bit, moving on to Tilly and Frost’s next. With a sniff of Seokjin’s brew I knew Jungkook was right, and I sauntered towards the table to take five and enjoy it. 

Finally sitting on something other than a saddle, I slouched over with my elbows on the table and took a long sip of my tea. It was herbal, but not bitter, and the warmth spread through me in a delicious wave, beginning to take away the evening chill. Rain began to pelt at my hair and shoulders, but until I had a moment to relax, I wasn’t going to pay it much attention. The third sip was more of a gulp, and the taste changed a little towards the bottom, but I didn’t have a chance to swallow it before a figure moved rapidly into my vision, startling me from my calm.

I choked and spluttered, tea going everywhere. Frustrated, I put the cup down on the table with a bang and shook the rapidly cooling liquid from my sleeves. In front of me was Jung Hoseok, dressed typically lavishly, his hands resting with the heels of his palms on the table and his fingers all pointing up like he’d been about to put them on the table, but then stopped in shock. 

“You okay?” he asked with genuine concern, and I glowered at him for a second. 

“Fine,” was my sharp reply, but I wasn’t annoyed for long. I just wished the guy knew how to do anything without sneaking up on me, since that was about the third cup of tea I’d lost this week to his antics.

“Sorry, I’m not doing this on purpose, I swear.” Sure, he looked and sounded genuine, but did he do anything to stop it happening? 

“Did you hover over here to tell me something, then?” I sighed, meeting his eyes with a slightly disapproving expression before looking back at my cup. There was still a mouthful left, but it was cold now, sprinkled with freezing rainwater. I downed it and placed the cup to the side, then leant back in my chair to cross my arms. Hoseok met my eyes, his expression seeming slightly dissuaded. The jewellery adorning his ear and dangling from his outfit clinked and tinkled as he moved, and I wondered how I hadn’t heard that as he approached. 

“Um. Yes actually. I wanted to discuss some sales prices and other business matters, but if you like I can go to Namjoon…” Wide-eyed and looking as though he was trying his best to not be in my way, Hoseok made to get up before I stopped him.

“No, it’s okay. I know those horses better than Namjoon does anyway.” Shaking my head for a second, I leant my arms back onto the table to discuss business. 

Hoseok wasn’t always around like the rest of us were. He came and went, never staying more than a few hours at a time, but he was still considered one of us. I felt the least comfortable around him as he rarely sat to eat by the fire with the group of an evening. We’d shared drinks in a tavern together twice in the years I’d known him, but he never drank enough to talk easily to, and all together it left me feeling as though Hoseok was the only one I knew nothing about. He and his enormous bay mare would saunter into camp, often with another horse or two in tow, and he would discuss a few things with us, make some business deals, and often only stay half a day before moving on again. Lady, the shire horse he rode, was a little bit obsessed with Mateo, so sometimes Hoseok stuck around a little longer just to let the lovebirds play together. In fact, most of the mares had a thing for my stallion, which was why he was only ever allowed to wander free with them under supervision. 

The two horses currently in training were a pair of wild two-year-olds that Hoseok had captured and gentled. One a soft red roan, and the other pitch black. Both too young to ride, he simply taught them to accept touch, respond to basic commands, and choose to be around humans. It was beyond me how anyone could teach a baby horse those things, but he did, and the sweet fillies spent the afternoons wandering along the back of the tents while Jungkook tidied, following him like loyal pups. 

“They’ve been with you three weeks now, and I have taught them all I can, so we can discuss sending them with Jin to the market this week,” Hoseok began. “Mister Carlson might be looking to take on a few young mares, do you think?” His brows knitted slightly in thought, but the look was erased when I shook my head.

“The Braithwaites had one of their famous stud dispersals last weekend,” I said, punctuating my sarcasm with quotation marks in the air. The wealthy tobacco plantation owners pretended to shut down their horse breeding business just about every year to ensure all of their sale stock went to affluent buyers. “I remember hearing old Carlson picked up an expensive mare and… maybe two youngsters as well.”

Blowing his lips out for a second, Hoseok sat back and crossed his arms. “Right. Might have trouble selling anything this week then. Maybe I should teach them a trick.”

That wouldn’t have been the first time he’d used cute and funny tactics to get our stock sold. We’d gotten rid of a rather average young colt simply because he could bow, and we made twice the value on a snotty pony we sold simply because Hoseok taught it to ‘smile'. He seemed to know horse people almost as well as he knew horses. 

Hoseok flicked his fluffy fringe as a thought came to him. “If the Braithwaites are out of the business for a while, the market is open.” The realisation slowly changed his face into a sly grin. “I might migrate to Scarlett Meadows for a while in that case.” Hoseok’s hands landed palms down on the table in front of him as he sat up and then stood. “Thank you Yoongi, I’ll be taking my leave for the evening then. Keep those fillies out of trouble!” He sauntered away, tinkling a little as his jewellery swayed with his movement, and I watched him somewhat disinterestedly while he approached Lady, stroked her massive head sweetly, and then swung himself up onto her bare back with ease. He plodded her over to Namjoon, probably to say he was leaving, and I shifted my attention towards the cooking pot over the campfire. 

Suddenly ravenous I rose to my feet, weary legs protesting, and brought my cup back to Seokjin. 

“Grub’s in the tub, as usual,” he said with a beckon towards the fire, and he traded the cup in my hand for three bowls and spoons. “And make sure the kids eat too.”

“Thanks pal.” With a pat to his shoulder, I made my way to the fire and served up three portions of delicious-smelling stew. “Jimin! Taehyung!” I precariously carried three bowls to the storage tent where our three youngest sat on the grass out of the rain, chatting and chuckling like children. 

“Oh thanks,” Jimin said first and got up to take both of their dinners from me while Taehyung mumbled his gratitude as well. “Did you already eat?” Jimin asked Jungkook then, and my brother shook his head. “Not until you all do.”

“Go get some. We’re all eating now,” I said to him while I lowered myself onto a makeshift chair, and he nodded and left as though it was a command. 

“The bounty paid twelve dollars,” Taehyung said through a mouthful, directing his words at me I assumed, despite his eyes being on his bowl. "So I left you three in your locker, and we put three in the camp funds.” His eyes finally met mine as he swallowed, and I nodded gratefully.

“Thanks. I still think we could take on more though.”

Jimin chimed in then, just as Jungkook sat back down on a crate beside me. "I agree. Common bandits are beneath us.” 

Namjoon sauntered in with Seokjin in tow, both carrying steaming bowls, and we made a rough circle in the tent that now seemed much too small for us all. 

“Getting cocky will get you dead,” Namjoon warned before taking his first mouthful, and I empathised when he moaned a little at the taste. Before finishing his mouthful, he turned to Seokjin beside him. “How do you make vegetables and a deer carcass into this,” he asked rhetorically, his words a little difficult to decipher, but I grinned and shook my head. Namjoon couldn't eat anything without commenting on it, and with Seokjin's cooking, it was always praise. 

“Just a bit of time and skill, my friend,” Seokjin replied, and there was a comfortable hush around us for a while as we ate. The rest of the evening passed like that; quiet and keeping out of the rain. Luckily, we had gotten away with the bounty hunt this time.

I woke just after dawn to the morning song of waxwings and bluejays, a chill shuddering through me from sleeping a tiny bit damp. The air was still thick with moisture, but it was warmer now even at this time. It took a few moments of stirring and blinking myself awake to notice Jungkook wasn't stretched out beside me like usual, but rather somewhere outside the tent entirely. Wrapping a fur coat around myself, I batted at the canvas opening to emerge for the day. The sun was just peeking over a low hill to the east still mostly blocked by thick pine forest, but its godrays lit the world an ethereal gold for a good part of the morning. Admiring it while shuffling tiredly towards the ashes of last night's fire, I managed not to trip on anything until bumping into an unexpected heap in my path. 

Jungkook grunted sleepily under me, just as startled as I from the sudden thump my body made against his. 

“Good morning,” he wheezed, winded and barely awake. 

“Why are you-” I paused to groan while pushing myself off of him, "-sleeping out here?"

“It was warmer beside the fire,” he mumbled, less breathless, and sat up, his hair a fluffy mess on his head, but at least dry unlike mine. 

“Hmpf. I would have overheated.”

“It was too hot for me too," came Jimin's morning voice, still high and childlike even with a sleepy rumble to it. He had clawed his way out of his own tent and made his way to sit on a log behind Jungkook. "But Jungkookie sleeps like the dead.”

I couldn't argue with that. I built the fire back up and lit it with a grimace on my face. I wanted to get completely dry, and dry my bedroll while I was at it, but it was an unpleasant day to be near a fire. 

“Breakfast will be a small one today fellas,” Seokjin called from the back of the wagon where he stored our food and other supplies. I wasn't surprised he'd risen already. Usually he was up before the sun and cooking a hearty breakfast, but being the one to light the fire, I knew that wasn't going to be the case today. “We have some bread and some more bread. Take yer pick.”

“It's market day though, ain’t it?” Jungkook asked, still only seeing out of one eye.

An 'mhm' came from behind the wagon while Seokjin cut the loaves up to share.

“Are you going to the market today Jungkookie?" Jimin asked, and my brother nodded enthusiastically, finally blinking both eyes awake.

“I have enough to buy a nice outfit, so I can look good beside Jin.” His excited tone didn't match his half asleep expression, and it brought an amused smirk to my face. 

“Are you going to rag proper like Seokjin too?” I asked.

Jungkook seemed to contemplate that, his eyes on the embers of my fire. "I think I will just see what looks good." He wore a singlet or vest and cotton trousers most of the time, jeans when he had to ride, and a coat when we moved around cooler climates, but he didn't have much in the way of clothing. Most of us didn't, because it wasn't really a necessity. Jin had the most, and he kept it in immaculate condition, because it enhanced his image as a merchant. He was also the only one who knew how to keep anything in immaculate condition, so if we had any nice clothing, it wouldn’t stay nice for long. 

The rest of the morning passed usually, with everyone eating and giving their horses a groom before tacking up. As the markets were on in Blackwater today, we hitched Jimin’s draught horse to the wagon and loaded it with goods. I always marvelled at the merchandise Seokjin and Jungkook were able to create from little more than wild game, some chemicals, and a simple set of tools. We loaded everything from barrels of preserved meats to clothing items onto the back with care, and then the two traders trotted Tilly and the wagon towards the road to Blackwater. 

Feeling a little more refreshed from my rest now, I wandered over to Mateo in his small night yard to let him out with the ladies, making sure his reins were tied so he couldn’t trip on them. He trotted energetically over to his herd and nickered softly at Denali, Jungkook’s golden mare. Unlike her personality towards people, she was not the kindest to Mateo, and she spun her hind end as he approached to give him a kick. I didn’t bother watching to see if it connected. Mateo could look after himself. 

Finally feeling dry now after eating in front of the fire, I wandered upstream of the creek nearby to find Namjoon. He was leaning over the bank, holding something under the rushing water, and I noticed a pile of waterskins by his feet.

“Think it’ll start cooling down soon?” I asked, feeling sweat pull at my brow from the short walk here. I bent to splash my face, letting the cool water drop down my neck to my collar. 

Namjoon turned to meet my eyes for a second, then hummed in thought, concentrating on what he was doing again. “No doubt about it. The storms are a sign of the changing weather. Do you think we should start saving money for winter already?”

Namjoon was decidedly our leader, having been the one to bring us all together, and we followed him unwaveringly. The smartest person I knew had to be the best to make decisions for us I figured, and he hadn’t lead us astray in the years we’d spent as a vagabond posse. I was a little surprised to find that he began to lean on me with things like this around a year ago, but his trust had become normal now. 

“If we want to eat, I suppose,” I answered, standing up from the bank of the creek and wandering over to sit on the grass by his side. “Any ‘shine to sell soon?”

Namjoon hummed his affirmation, and then he stood to stopper the last filled pouch of water. “Plenty. we can sample it tonight if Jin and Jungkook make some good sales.”

My lips pursed for a second as I watched him begin to walk back to camp. “I’ll pass.”

“Suit yourself,” Namjoon called over his shoulder, and I sighed, relaxing into the grass while I could, knowing someone would have a task for me sooner rather than later. The babbling stream was calming, which was what I needed right then with thoughts of money and the long winter ahead churning in my mind. 

I didn’t turn around to check which horse had wandered over to see what I was doing until a curious muzzle knocked my hat off my head. I reached up to catch it, grinning a little, but it spooked the horse that I now realised was one of Hoseok’s babies, and she spun around to trot a few paces away from me, tail raised in the air dramatically.

“You did that yourself,” I mumbled to the gawking black beast, and she snorted in response.

“Are you talking to the horses, Yoongi?” called Jimin from just outside the camp, and scoffed I at his ‘tsk’ sounds.

“Don’t tell me you don’t talk to Tilly.” My defence was just loud enough for him to hear, and he chuckled.

“I have to remind her what a good girl she is every day.”

Jimin had a good reason to be so attached to Tilly. She’d taken more than one bullet for him, and was always steady until we could have it removed and the wound closed. It was Seokjin’s least favourite job. One day that poor mare wasn’t going to be so lucky to come out with just a scar. 

“Anyway. What is on the agenda for today gentlemen?” I questioned, wandering back into camp with my hat safely back on. 

“We considered taking a break day. Tomorrow we can check bounty postings in Strawberry if we’re all feeling up to it.” I felt Jimin follow me with his eyes as I picked up my Carcano rifle from inside my tent and then found a stool to sit on. “Does that suit you?”

I shrugged. “I don’t want to sit around and do nothing all day, so I might go catch us some supper then.” Having paid a few months worth of savings for this sniper, I wouldn’t let it lose any condition, so keeping it clean was more of a ritual than a task. I knew it like the back of my hand. Pouring the last of my gun oil onto a cloth, I made a mental note to replenish it.

“I will hold down the fort if you two want to go hunting,” Taehyung butted in from his lounging spot inside the storage tent. His hat covered his face, and he was slightly propped up against Seokjin’s saddle. 

“I don’t have a horse,” Jimin countered, and I shrugged.

“I am happy alone. At least we will have something to eat before the traders get home.”

With a shining rifle and Mateo raring for a gallop, I set off into a bright morning.

~~~~~~~~~~


	3. Chico

__

_Chapter Glossary:_

**All the go:** all the rage (in fashion)

 **Best bib and tucker:** best/fanciest outfit you own.

 **Blather:** impudence (being rude and disrespectful)

 **Ponying** **:** Leading a horse beside the horse you’re riding.

 **Saint Denis:** pronounced ‘San Den-EE,’ it is the only real ‘city’ in this world.

 **Slink:** a sneaky person

~~~~~~~~~~

_ Yoongi’s POV  _

A successful trip to the markets had the posse in high spirits that evening, and the moonshine flowed for hours. Knowing me too well, Jungkook came home with a bottle of whisky to share. Not an expensive one, but even the worst was better than moonshine. I downed enough to make all of my troubles go away and fell into a dreamless sleep until the next afternoon. 

The last to rise, I immediately made for the creek to cool off in, sweltering and parched. Someone tried to speak to me as I stumbled out of my tent, but I was already shedding clothing and making my way down stream where the pines were thicker. 

The water was cool and welcoming on my bare toes, and I stepped into a knee-deep section wearing nothing but my trousers. The fresh rapids washed over me as I sank down, sitting on a large rock to rest while it lowered my body temperature enough to bring some life back. 

Mateo whinnied at me, and I realised it hadn’t been the first time I heard it in the last few minutes. Sighing heavily, I pushed myself up and climbed back out of the creek, a little guilty that I’d left him locked up all morning. As I made my way to his yard, Jungkook grinned at me while gathering the shirt, vest, and boots I’d left strewn in a rough trail. 

“What did you lace that whiskey with?” Namjoon goaded as I walked past the table he sat at. It wasn’t unusual for me to sleep the longest after drinking, and he liked to bring it up that nobody drinking his moonshine got as fucked up as I did.

Mateo nickered gently at me as I opened his gate, but instead of going to the herd, he went in the other direction and took a drink from the stream. I noticed his water bucket was empty, and that made me feel even worse. Rather than verbally apologising, I made a note to bring him a box of carrots later. 

Feeling like my body warmth was already drying me off, I turned my nose up at the thought of food and went to put a light white shirt on to keep the sun off me. Murmurs from around the table made me wander over, slightly struggling with getting this darned shirt on my already sticky skin. 

“-and the only bounties in Strawberry are once again bandits. We might need to move east.”

I watched Jimin while he spoke, tuning in just in time to keep up.

“I agree,” Taehyung added with a nod, taking his riding gloves off, and it occurred to me they’d already been to town and back today. It shouldn’t have surprised me what I could sleep through.

“Moving is such a pain, guys. And you never help.” Seokjin’s voice was between a whine and a scold. 

“But we can’t winter here. The herds will move on, and neither Strawberry nor Blackwater will be productive enough. We have to be in reach of Saint Denis.” All eyes landed on me as I explained why I agreed with the younger hunters. A moment of silence was followed by an exasperated sigh from Seokjin.

Namjoon nodded sharply, his legs swinging down off the table. “Then we move east. And everyone helps. If I see one of you sitting around today, you’re on saddle scrubbing duty for a month.”

I didn’t argue, but I felt like if I moved too quickly I was going to throw up. I hoped he would understand.

At sundown, with everything but our bedrolls and the storage tent packed securely in the wagon, we settled down to eat a typical delicious stew around a crackling campfire. Mateo munched on a box of carrots I’d asked Taehyung to bring me from Strawberry on their second trip of the day. Apart from that, we needed a few more supplies to make our move easier, and Taehyung and Jungkook seemed to be endlessly energetic, so they rode their mares there and back to do the shopping. Equipped with plenty of food and water, extra ammunition, a repaired and oiled harness for Tilly, and a few new crates for storage, we were ready to pack up at first light and make the day-long journey from West Elizabeth, across New Hannover, and into Lemoyne.

“We met Hoseok in Strawberry just by chance.” Jimin chattered away over dinner, but I tuned in when he mentioned our casual horse rustler friend. “We let him know our plans. Oh, and he mentioned that he found a buyer for the kids in Valentine.” Jimin beckoned towards the herd, indicating the ex-wild fillies who had made themselves at home napping in the grass. Under the bright moonlight, our horses looked shiny and healthy, grazing or resting casually, not a care in the world.

“Lucky. It’s always a pain trying to get mail to that misfit.” Namjoon finished his food with a characteristic happy sound and then continued. “Didn’t he say he would be around Rhodes soon?”

I hummed ‘yes’ with a nod. “Scarlett Meadows will be ripe with Braithewaite horses after their sales.”

“That Hoseok is a real slink,” Namjoon chortled. “You could peddle them off to anyone. Great bloodstock.”

Seokjin began gathering bowls and added his agreement. “Never misses an opportunity, that one.”

We set off without a hitch at first light, and the first few hours sailed by, miles disappearing at a steady trotting pace. It felt great to be back in the saddle again. All but Jimin who bumped along in our wagon, Tilly powering on with the stamina of a horse much larger than herself. I sipped at my waterskin as we passed Flatneck Station, ignoring the jolly song my posse mates chorused together, some carrying a tune, some not. Mateo and I headed up the rear, as he felt best driving his mares forward, and it allowed me to avoid conversation. Happy in my own musings and taking in the surroundings, I never felt any desire to be included. 

Sometimes my overly concerned brother would drop back, taking a risk in letting Denali walk beside my boy, and ask if I was okay. He always got the same answer: of course. Being so social, he couldn’t understand how I preferred to be left out when possible; that I enjoyed my own company, and that of my horse, more than that of anyone I already had to spend every waking moment with. 

As the sun neared the middle of the sky, the land we crossed became greener; different trees, different animals. Different people even, with slightly more expensive horses and clothing, and slightly less hostility. The landscape wasn’t unfamiliar, but it was a nice change from the past year we’d spent in West Elizabeth and New Austin. Wintering in the desert was the most ridiculous decision we’d ever made; one we’d never make again. Too many snakes made my boots their homes for me to consider repeating it.

Taehyung raced off with Frost in the direction of Valentine at some point, and I realised I should have at least half-listened in to what the posse was deciding. 

“We’ll take a break here for now,” Namjoon declared, leading Tilly off the path. The tall brown mare he rode, Voltaire, trotted prettily even at the speed of a walk. She acted like she had more energy than all of our horses combined, but she always moved with grace. Even with Namjoon’s riding, she seemed comfortable and easy. 

There was a small clearing where we could park the wagon and rest around it, and we didn’t need anything more than that for now. We hitched the horses on long ropes so they could graze and have long drinks from the troughs at the station, and we gorged ourselves on salted meats and miscellaneous fruits we’d purchased in Strawberry for the trip.

Taehyung took less than half an hour to return from Valentine. Frost’s white and grey coat was covered in sweat and she looked ragged, but she cooled down quickly as soon as she was resting with the others. 

“What did you run off to do?” I asked as the chipper kid came to sit on a log behind me, ready to devour his share of the rations.

“If you’d been listening,” he began, food already in his mouth, “you’d know I went to see if I could organise the fillies’ sale in Valentine while we were going past.” 

As he explained, I noticed an older fellow on a small palomino horse trot towards us, looking interestedly at our little tribe. Taehyung met Seokjin’s eyes and beckoned with his head towards the rider. 

“And as you can see, I was successful.”

I watched, mildly interested, as Seokjin struck a deal with the stranger, and he left with the two young fillies we’d kept with us for the last few weeks. They whinnied with distress at being led away, but their training seemed to keep them in line, and they followed on either side of the smaller golden pony. It was nice to see them go, even if they’d been a bit cute. 

Seokjin returned to us with a smirk on his lips, seemingly content with the paycheck he tucked into his black jeans. “Jung Hoseok does it again. I should give him a bigger cut of this.”

“How much?” Namjoon asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.

Taehyung and Seokjin shared a look, then the elder turned to Namjoon again. “Eighty dollars.” There was a moment of shock amongst us, my breath catching almost making me choke, food falling from Jimin’s mouth and going unnoticed. Taehyung seemed to be itching for something, and Seokjin didn’t wait long. “ _Each_.”

Jimin got up then with a jump, eyes almost popping out of his head. I felt the exact same rattling surprise. That was an absolute fortune. What lies had the rustler spun to get someone to pay such a ridiculous amount? How was Seokjin not freaking out?

“You’re joking,” Namjoon breathed. “You have o _ne hundred and sixty_ _dollars_ in your pocket right now?”

Seokjin’s brows spiked for a second before he took another bite of his half-finished food.

“We’re-!” Jimin began in a shout, then stopped himself, glancing over at the strangers idling at Flatneck Station. “We’re rich!” he said much more quietly, but with the same level of excitement.

“We should save most of it for winter,” I reasoned, attempting to mask my utter disbelief. 

Jimin scoffed. “Winter? I’m taking my split and getting a new saddle!”

“Wait a second now, Yoongi has a point,” Namjoon agreed. “We would be more comfortable with some breathing room this year. Remember having to spend days out hunting just to survive last year?” Jimin scowled and sat down with a huff, which made Seokjin butt in with a scolding tone.

“Hey, if you went out and did your job you could save enough for a new saddle.”

Seeing Jimin about to combat angrily, I shot him a warning look. “Don’t argue about this now. We still have a long way to go before we can be free of each other, and I’d rather not break up a brawl right now.”

We were quiet for a while, finishing our food and relaxing. Jungkook moved to sit right beside Jimin, which cheered the elder up enough that they could chat casually. Nobody was capable of being angry around Jungkook, but he seemed to raise Jimin’s spirits the most. They’d gotten along from the first time Taehyung and Jimin sauntered into camp on Namjoon’s invitation, and I couldn’t imagine them apart now. 

Getting back on the road again in good time helped us make our destination just after sundown. The land was something entirely different here, and not in a welcoming way. We tethered the horses by some water and hay to cool off and become accustomed to the new location. It would take us some time to acclimatise as well. Unlike West Elizabeth, Lemoyne was humid, heavily populated, and rained quite frequently. We weren’t used to so many travellers passing as we unpacked our things on the dryest patch of land we could find. I definitely wasn’t used to sweating until my white shirt was completely transparent.

The ground was thick with the rubbery leaves of some kind of creeping vine that I knew I’d trip on at least a few times a day. The air was thick with the taste of the swamp. A chorus of frogs, crickets, and spoonbills filled my ears; it was never quiet here. I prayed we wouldn’t encounter any alligators.

Unpacking wasn’t quite as bad as packing, but in the dark, covered from hair-tips to toes in sweat, and constantly pestered by mosquitoes, it seemed a lot worse than usual. Eventually we relaxed to have some supper, deciding to leave the rest for the morning. I wasn’t going to be able to wear my chaps or gloves here at all or I was going to succumb to heat exhaustion, so I stuck to trousers and a shirt. It helped me keep cool, but I felt completely naked.

As we were in a new location by the south portion of the Kamassa River, Namjoon decided to take a half-night shift keeping guard, and Jimin agreed to take the second half. It may have been more unsafe than we were used to, and none of us would sleep soundly without someone watching out for us. 

“We should get a dog,” Jungkook mumbled sleepily as I finally relaxed onto my bedroll beside his. 

“Another mouth to feed? I don’t think so.”

“But he could guard the camp.”

“He could break into our food storage and eat it all.” This proverbial dog was annoying me already.

“I would name him Cody.”

“Go to sleep Jungkook.” It wasn’t actually me for once, scolding his chattiness. Namjoon tapped on the tent as he said it. 

With one last hum of agreement, Jungkook was out like a light. I wanted to fall blissfully asleep right alongside him, but my mind was too active with frustration from how physically uncomfortable this entire environment made me. I was itchy, sweaty, hot, and every kind of filthy. Not being able to sleep was just about the worst thing I could imagine, and I silently swore to get us out of here as soon as possible. Lemoyne was not where I wanted to settle for winter. 

The morning brought good news: everybody else hated it here too. Seokjin demanded we stay at least long enough to make the most of the unique position we were in, to which I hesitantly agreed. Lemoyne, and especially Bayou Nwa, was a trading central, constantly supplying and moving goods between Roanoke Ridge, a distant northern state, and Saint Denis, a bustling capital city. We sat around the embers of a fire we couldn't bare to keep alive longer than necessary and discussed our plans. 

"Moonshine will fly out of our hands in Saint Denis," Namjoon began, looking at all of us while he voiced his thoughts. "So if possible, one or two of us should spend a few days in the city just peddling it. There's plenty of game out here for Jin and Jungkook, and I guarantee Saint Denis has some high roller bounties you hunters could look into." He looked between Jimin and Taehyung for a few moments while they nodded in agreement, looks of excitement being exchanged. Namjoon's eyes fell on me then. "Would you be my second set of hands selling booze in the city?" 

I shrugged, unsurprised. "Suits me." Namjoon knew I'd be careful and smart about it all, which couldn't be said for Jimin or Taehyung. It meant I may need to think about finding a new outfit, however. 

"Excellent. We will part ways this afternoon. Everybody, make sure to stay in pairs. I know you're all grown up and independent," Namjoon mocked, beckoning to give his words more meaning, "but we'd be up shit creek if someone got hurt, so keep each other safe. Comprendé?"

A chorus of yeses satisfied our leader, and we dispersed to get our things in order. 

Saint Denis was much more my speed, so I was a little excited to get out of here. Jungkook farewelled me with a pat on the back, and Mateo, loaded with bottles of moonshine, moved off to follow Voltaire. The muddy road squelched under-hoof as we trudged towards the bridge that would take us into the city. Namjoon was sometimes chatty, sometimes content with silence. Today was a blessed silence day. I watched his slender mare's rump muscles move hypnotisingly as she trotted, her tail swinging freely, and didn't bother to look up until we slowed to a walk. Matching his rider's lack of focus, Mateo bumped his nose into Voltaire's backside before he realised we were slowing, and the mare squealed and yanked her back foot up as a threat. All of this was commonplace, so I didn't pay it much heed. I steered Mateo around to her side and finally paid attention to where we were.

Saint Denis was just as loud, smelly, and dirty as always. I followed the screeching steam train with my eyes as it passed us, and Mateo quickened his pace as Voltaire spooked a little, but they both calmed with a hush from their riders. We approached the massive stables on the street corner, peering in curiously at the rows of well-bred animals resting in their stalls. The stablemaster paused his sweeping to tip his cap at Namjoon, and Namjoon nodded back with a friendly grin.

At me then, "We won't have any trouble making money in this dump."

With our horses boarded and paid for, we went to find accommodation for ourselves. We had differing opinions on which was the better tavern, and as usual, I won. Sharing a room to save money, Namjoon and I unpacked our essentials and decided to spend the afternoon relaxing until the real business began. 

Our room wasn't small, and clearly some care had been taken to decorate it. There wasn't anything worth stealing, but it looked much nicer than any other room in which I'd stayed before. The two beds were close together, a polished sprucewood bedside table between them. I took in the landscape paintings and slightly dusty wallpaper whilst reclining on the bed I'd claimed, and in what seemed like no time at all, I was out like a light. 

I woke up with a jerk at nothing at all. I blinked and looked around. It was dark now, and the streets weren't much quieter than earlier. Carts wheeled past the window invisible from the second story, the clip-clop of hooves pulling them along the stone paving. Men's voices shouted in the distance, possibly from the docks. I could faintly hear the merriment from downstairs, as the taps were likely flowing with beer and whisky at this hour. 

What hour it was exactly I wasn't sure, but upon finally adjusting to the darkness, I noticed Namjoon sitting on the other bed, his clothes changed and his skin uncharacteristically clean. 

"Thought you were going to sleep all night," he chuckled, and I grunted in response.

"Did you rest yet?"

Namjoon nodded and swung his legs over the side of the bed, facing me. "For a couple of hours. Than I bathed, then I went to buy you a reasonable outfit."

I scrunched up my face in confusion for a second, then glanced in the direction which his beckoning hand was pointing. 

On my bed, just past where my boots had been propped up a moment ago, was a green and white ensemble, completely ridiculous. 

"You want me to wear _that?_ " I almost whined, and he hummed a yes. 

"It will convince our buyers. You can't be helpful in those rags, I need you in your best bib and tucker."

I assumed he wanted me to bathe as well, and I clambered off the bed to indulge him. 

Namjoon shuffled around the room doing this and that, mostly organising his little glass bottles into neat packages and sniffing at his different flavours to make sure they were labelled correctly. Privacy wasn't much of a priority after having spent so much time together, and having to bathe in the tub across from our beds with nothing dividing us honestly didn't bother me. Namjoon couldn't care less anyway, busily making sure our evening's dealings would go smoothly. 

It felt great to be clean, but I'd rather have put old dirty clothes on than the extravagant vest and trousers that awaited me. Namjoon grinned mischievously when I finished buttoning up a crisp white shirt and grimaced down at the vest. 

"This is sadistic. Couldn't you have made Jungkook go through this?"

"I’ll have none of yer blather. That outfit is _all_ the go."

Each with a satchel of concealed 'shine bottles slung across our shoulders, we ventured into the night to find a quiet alleyway. 

I hadn't done this before, but from campfire stories I knew how it went. Namjoon even wore a fancy hat to look more the part which made me cringe, but it seemed to delight the customers. I had no idea why, but they flowed in, secretly exchanging money and test-tasting his wide range of flavours. Before two hours had passed, Namjoon and I had stashed a thick handful of cash each away into our bags. Seeing nobody for a good ten minutes, Namjoon decided to call it a night when he only had one bottle left. I'd been emptied-out for a while, having drawn in a few more customers than himself, though not entirely sure why. 

Smiling victoriously at me, he uncapped the last bottle and took a gulp, then handed it over. Feeling anything but spontaneous, I refused. So far, it was the only booze I hated, and not even a boring night of acting friendly to customers made me want to get drunk that badly. 

With around forty dollars between us, we rested well in our beds that night, me wearing basically nothing just to be out of the poxy outfit. We each woke a while after the sun had reached the highest point, completely unused to such favourable sleeping conditions. Real beds, soft blankets, pillows, a good cover our heads, and dramatically reduced noise from our surroundings. I could get used to living in a building again. 

We dressed and made an appearance downstairs to order a cheap meal. The tavern was charming in the daytime, not full of drunks but buzzing with polite company, accents and languages from all around the world humming in my ears. This is why I preferred this place over wherever Namjoon would have chosen. 

A young woman with a thick Mexican accent greeted us and took our orders. She was kind and chatty, and I would have been happy to stay at the bar and listen to her stories, but Namjoon suddenly stood up and faced the door, a sound of surprise almost making his mouthful of food go flying. 

Intent on listening at least to the end of our server's sentence, I didn't look away to see what had gotten my friend's attention, but the woman talking to me had looked over curiously. 

"Ohh, your friend knows this _chico_?" she said in an amused, smiling tone. My brows knitted together slightly as I turned to see Namjoon clasping hands with Hoseok. My brow spiked for a moment. He was wearing a rough blue vest that looked like a jacket without its arms, and a black shirt and tidy black trousers, and his boots and chaps matched the ensemble. As usual, he was dressed more expensive than a large house in Blackwater, a few pieces of flashy silver jewelry to complete his look. I glanced at his gun belt, the iron grip of a volcanic pistol sticking out from the black holster.

"Yeah, quite well, actually," I replied to the bar girl. Hoseok passed Namjoon and sauntered towards me, his gaze finding mine for a second before I looked back at my food to keep eating. A hand landed on my shoulder to clasp it in greeting. 

“Yoongi. You have a fine taste in establishments, I see,” Hoseok complimented, just before leaning over the bar to peck our server friend on the cheek, a chaste but affection gesture that made me curious. Still smiling, she wandered towards the back of the bar to tidy.

"Wasn't going to let Namjoon choose," I mumbled towards my food, and then took the last bite before I was definitely finished. I'd been hungry, but I was spoilt by Seokjin's cooking, so I only ate as much as I needed before calling it quits. 

A high-pitched chuckle tumbled from Hoseok as he perched himself on the stool to my right. "Good call." Hoseok shamelessly picked up a slice of grilled potato from my plate, which I pretended not to be surprised by. Apparently he felt closer to me than I felt to him.

Chewing thoughtfully, Hoseok scanned the room around us for a moment, and then looked past me to Namjoon who was sitting down on my left again.

"How long do you plan to be in Saint Denis?" he asked, a questioning look in his eyes.

"Another day at least. Why?"

"Got some colts to move to Rhodes and could use another rider or two. Don't think I can control them myself," he said with a grin, and Namjoon snorted. 

"I'd like to see you try. Voltaire is… especially interesting to colts right now though, I'd have to sit out." 

I actually hadn't noticed Namjoon's mare start cycling, but it made sense now why she'd threatened to kick Mateo yesterday for little more than a gentle bump. I knew then from the way Hoseok moved beside me that he was about to ask me.

I met his gaze for a second and confirmed I was right from his expectant expression. "Mateo likes ponying," I resigned, thinking, if anything, it would give me a break from wearing Namjoon's unbearable outfit for a while. Maybe I would finally learn a little about Hoseok. 

Namjoon also helped himself to the end of my meal, but that didn't surprise me. "Then it's settled. I'll hold the fort here, and see you two back around sundown?"

“All going according to plan. Shortly after sunset at the latest,” Hoseok promised before pushing himself up, a hand reflexively resting on his pistol by his hip. I didn’t hesitate to stand as well, and with a nod to Namjoon, I turned to head upstairs, leaving my leader to pay for our meals.

Having gathered my waterskin, hat, gunbelt, and rifle, I headed back down and passed Namjoon on the stairs with little more than a nod. I followed the energetic walk of Hoseok’s outside into the mid afternoon sun. A short, wordless walk to the stables had me feeling refreshed after sleeping so long the day before. I was ready to leave this city for a while, even if we’d only just arrived. Despite indulging in the comforts of sleeping indoors, I craved the wide open spaces and fresh air of the frontier.

~~~~~~~~~~

**The chapter image is Yoongi and Mateo riding past Flatneck Station, it has it written on the water tower! (I love making these gifs ^^)**


	4. War Zone

_Chapter Glossary:_

**Apple:** in this case, the saddle horn. Cowboys used lots of words to describe it for some reason ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Can also be called the biscuit LMAO

**Bangtail:** wild horse/mustang

**Between hay and grass:** half-grown. Usually referring to the teenage years (which were not called teenage years yet in the 19th century)

**Sakes alive!:** good heavens!

**Snatch:** a snack or hasty meal.

_Yoongi’s POV_

Mateo positively brimmed at the sight of me, his whinny getting the attention of every living thing within earshot. The horse stabled beside him pinned its ears angrily as he came close to their dividing bars, but he paid it no heed. I reached in to stroke his white blaze with a smile. “I missed you too, pal.”

Hoseok entered Lady’s stall and greeted her with a kiss to her nose, which was about mouth height for him when she stood normally, but she lifted it as though in reception. I knew Mateo liked me as his carer, but Hoseok had such a bond with Lady that they were almost of one mind. It certainly seemed that way when he was with any horse, not just Lady. It caused a slight prickle of envy. 

We travelled at a canter out of Saint Denis, the clip-clop of our horses’ hooves changing to hollow thuds over the wooden bridge, and then heavy, satisfying thumps of hoof to earth when we finally reached the outskirts. Lady’s footfalls were surprisingly light for such a massive horse, and Hoseok rode her long strides effortlessly.

Hoseok lead me to a stable block full of horses at Caliga Hall, a plantation of cotton and tobacco owned by the renowned Grey family. A few young workers in dirty cotton overalls reclined by the eastern corner, smoking and staying out of the sun. As we approached at a casual walk, Hoseok dismounted mid stride and pointed a huge smile at the stable boy who was first to approach. The kid was maybe sixteen years old, but he gave a similar look back to my aquanitence, and then glanced at me with a possibly-too-friendly grin. 

“You’re our delivery feller?” the kid asked looking at Hoseok again, cigarette smoking between his lips, and he gripped it between a thumb and forefinger to exhale slightly away from Hoseok’s face.

“That’d be me. Us actually. Mister Grey requested my help specifically.” Not the most humble, Hoseok put a hand on his hip almost as though to power pose.

With something close to patronising amusement, the kid turned back to his workmates, smirking, the friendliness on his face somewhat lacking now, replaced by something close to snideness. “You must be Hoseok. Who’s yer friend?”

“Yoongi,” I said, tapping the brim of my hat, remaining civil despite my sudden urge to walk all over this kid. 

Hoseok’s earrings tinkled as he flicked his fringe out of his eyes, unfazed. “Mister Grey said something about three young colts needing transport to Braithwaite Manor?”

Seeming done with his joke now, the kid nodded and took another drag from his cigarette before dropping it and stomping on the butt. “Over ‘ere.”

Still mounted, I watched Hoseok and the boy fit halters onto three solid, rather mature three-year-old horses, and then lead them out of their stables. All about the size of Lady but with less hair on their legs, they were matching black with small white markings. One had four high white stockings, a large jagged snip on his nose, and a small dash of white on each of his sides: Hoseok handed me a rope attached to that colt’s halter. Mateo was obedient enough not to react to the other horse, even when it sniffed at his face and made a small nickering sound. 

My boy just turned away a little, ear on the colt but attention on his rider. Hoseok led Lady to stand between the two colts he held, and then mounted her expertly, feet finding the stirrups absently while he positioned the ropes over his mare’s reins. Luckily, the colts seemed to be well trained enough, and they walked confidently beside our horses as we made off. There were a few more words between Hoseok and the kid, but I was too busy flicking the colt’s face with Mateo’s reins so he would stop trying to bite his neck.

Finally west of the property, I felt a little more relaxed, and the three ebony boys were looking around curiously at all of the new sights they may have never seen before. A wagon passed us on the road, particularly creaky and moving a little quicker than a casual trot. Of course it was a little too much for the frisky youngsters, and I struggled to hold on when my white-footed boy reared up. 

“Wrap him on your apple,” Hoseok advised, and I quickly followed his instruction, getting the end of the rope secured on Mateo’s saddle horn, my hands almost getting rope-burnt in the process. “The little bangtail,” he said, shaking his head. The other two colts fussed and stirred on either side of Lady, but Hoseok hardly paid them any attention. In seconds, they began to walk calmly again. My passenger tossed around a little more, but with Mateo staying calm despite the tugging at his saddle, White Foot finally eased off. “Nice job.”

I watched the glossy black mane swish in the breeze, feeling a little pride at Hoseok’s compliment, but too embarrassed to acknowledge it. 

Despite my hesitance to make conversation, I wondered if he knew why those workers had been oddly rude. “What was their problem?” I asked, beckoning back east where we’d come from.

Hoseok met my eyes, a casual look fading into something contemplative, and the natural down-curve of his lips deepened just slightly. “Kids are usually rude,” he said dismissively, looking over at the colt to the other side of him. After a moment of silence, he went on. “Perhaps they thought they knew something about me… that they found amusing.”

‘Like what’ fought to pass my lips, but I held it back. That had been as much conversation as I was going to offer, just in case he planned to make any himself. I needed to save some of my limited social capacity for the day.

We crossed south-west through Bolger Glade, once a war zone during the Battle of Scarlett Meadows in the sixties. It was a morbid sight, even now with the lush green grass and peacefully grazing wildlife, if you considered the slaughter that had occurred there only a few decades ago. I remembered my father telling me that story when I was a boy, because his father had been in the battle. It made me slightly homesick, but a deep breath and a stroke through Mateo's mane made that feeling disappear. 

We passed the trenches and battle debris, still in peaceful silence. Hoseok led us off-road directly west to save time, and Mateo perked up at the more challenging terrain, even at a walk. When amongst the trees and almost in sight of the Braithwaite tobacco fields I'd seen quite a few times, a menacing shout came from the south, and the horses all spooked at once. Even Lady, usually so calm, seemed to know something was wrong. One shout became several, and it occurred to me as the first bullet whizzed past us that we were being ambushed. At least two riders came from the north to sandwich us, and I ducked gunfire, heart thudding and mind scrambling for a way to respond.

Panicking now, the horses shuffled and reared up, frightened whinnys echoing in my ears. In a second, I'd unsheathed my knife and cut the colt free, and he bolted off without a second's hesitation. 

"GO!" I shouted at Hoseok, drawing my Carcano rifle from Mateo's saddle. He met my eyes, horrified, but he didn't wait long. The four of them charged off towards the white foot colt, and I didn't have a second to wonder if they'd catch him. 

"There's a tax for passing through Raider lands, boy!" came a rough, raspy voice from one of the mounted raiders, his horse rearing up at a yank of the reins and jab with the spurs. I realised the shots weren't meant to kill us as much as threaten, but I also knew they wouldn't hesitate to hurt me if I didn't promptly pay them. Mateo danced from foot to foot, chomping on his bit, picking up on my anxiety. One of the horsemen took off towards Hoseok, and I made the decision then and there to turn this into a bloodbath.

It only took a second to chamber a round, aim down my sight, and take the galloping rider out, but I didn't have time to appreciate the shot - I was now officially in mortal danger. I counted another five of them from the voices and gunshots, and luckily dodged a few more bullets as I whirled Mateo around to gallop back east. Making sure no others chased Hoseok, I turned Mateo a little and aimed behind me. I chambered a new round and began to take them out. One, as he was running down a hill. Two, attempting to hide behind a tree. Three, charging his little bay horse towards me. I reloaded, satisfied I could take the other two out now, but they decided I was more than they'd bargained for, and turned tail. I stared down my sight at them, Mateo cantering stressfully through the trees with no control from me. As soon as the last two raiders had disappeared over the hill, I held my gun up against my side, took the reins again, and steered my fretting stallion back west again, charging hell for leather after Hoseok. 

We leapt a tall white post and rail fence into the Braithwaite property, recognising the trail of hoofprints and taking a shortcut to make our way to them as quickly as possible. Dashing through the eastern field, I followed the trail of hoofprints into the main mansion yard, and slowed Mateo to a rushed trot as we entered. 

Relief washed over me when Hoseok, standing beside Lady, turned to watch me approach. I managed to control my expression, but he didn't. Handing two ropes attached to black colts to a man standing in front of him, Hoseok jogged over to me to meet me on the road.

"Thank Christ you're okay. What happened?" Hoseok came right up beside me after subtly scanning Mateo for wounds. I didn't miss his eyes sweeping over me to make sure I wasn't hurt either. 

"I dealt with it. Are you okay?" As I asked, I hooked my rifle back over my shoulder and pulled my feet out of the stirrups to stretch my cramping muscles. 

Hoseok nodded, his eyes closing and lips pursing for a second, relief radiating from him in waves. "I just need to finish this deal, then we can leave." Hoseok patted my thigh before turning to jog back to his horse and, assumedly, the buyer.

I gave Mateo a good pat along his crest and scratch on his shoulders to help reassure him, and he eventually relaxed enough to almost fall asleep. By the time Lady marched up to us, I felt awash with tiredness. While I was used to gunfights, I wasn't so used to unexpected ones, or ones where Taehyung and Jimin weren’t here to have my back. 

Hoseok beckoned for us to leave as he passed, and Mateo didn't take much convincing to follow along beside his favourite girlfriend. We picked up to a canter again on the way out, leaving to the north where there was a road to follow. The sun was dipping below the forest to the west now. Hoseok slowed Lady to a walk when we were off Braithwaite land. 

"It was a set-up," he spat, making me do a double-take at his furious expression.

"Uh, what?"

"The ambush. Bartholomew fucking Braithwaite no doubt."

I frowned, brow furrowing, while I considered his words. "But they bought the horses, right?"

Hoseok nodded a little, but kept staring ahead or down at Lady. "After a lot of confusion, and not for what I was told I'd be paid. I even chased and caught the best one for them. But they didn't want the horses, they just… wanted to send a message, I guess."

"To… the Grey's?"

Another nod. "It's never ending with those clowns. And I'm sick of getting caught in the middle."

Lady tossed her head, the first sign of anything but calm obedience I'd ever seen from her, and Hoseok suddenly relaxed all over, slumping slightly into the saddle, his breath leaving him in a whoosh. They were so strangely in synch.

"Anyway. I'm taking that colt back. Tonight. As proper payment."

I raised my brows at him then, blinking incredulously. I knew he'd been referred to as a rustler, but I usually knew him to either gentle wild horses to buy cheap ones to train and sell for high prices. Genuine thievery from a wealthy family was something I'd not considered to be in his usual repertoire.

"Do you want help?" I offered automatically, thinking firstly that I didn't want him getting into trouble, and secondly that I'd just love to skip Moonshine peddling in a dirty alleyway.

Hoseok pondered silently, fuming as much as he ever had around me before. "It's risky. But. I'd feel safer if you came," he finished quietly, glancing over at me to find my eyes. My lips twitched into a tiny smile for a moment. Hoseok's anger fizzled down slowly until he was comfortably swaying in the saddle as usual, and Lady's posture relaxed again. Still in silence as the moon began to rise, we picked up to a canter along the swampy roads back to Saint Denis.

Hoseok trotted up the stairs behind me to our room where Namjoon was finishing packing his satchel.

"Took yer time," he called over his shoulder as I swung the door shut behind Hoseok, but Namjoon's face fell when he saw our friend's expression. "What happened?"

Hoseok sighed, but his expression wasn't half as upset as he'd been earlier. The ride clearly did the same for him as it always did for me when something was chewing at me. "Typical Grey-Braithwaite feud. We were attacked on the road." 

"Sakes alive," Namjoon cursed, sitting on his bed to give us his full attention. "But you and the horses are okay?" 

We both nodded thankfully then, and Hoseok didn't hesitate to explain his revenge plan, which Namjoon seemed to agree was a good move.

"Yoongi offered to help, if you can spare him?"

At that, I felt Hoseok's eyes on me, but I watched Namjoon consider it.

"Can't see why not, he's a better cowboy than booze peddler."

I didn't even reward that with a frown, but Hoseok smirked. 

"Good luck tonight then," Hoseok said, and Namjoon returned the sentiment as we left again. To me on the way down the stairs, Hoseok asked: "Do you want to get a snatch before we go?" My stomach replied for me, rumbling audibly. "Well that settles that."

Hoseok took us to a store I hadn't visited before, and they served quite interesting and extremely delicious meals. I didn't mean to eat quite so much, but I couldn't stop until my plate was empty. Somehow he ate more than I did and was still able to walk without looking like he had to hobble, unlike myself. Despite feeling more comfortable in his company after spending most of the day together, Hoseok and I didn't speak more than necessary. I decided he just wasn't a chatty person, and that suited me perfectly. 

"We need to stop in at the tailor before we leave, and he closes within the hour," Hoseok said, interrupting my silent musings. I met his eyes and sat back, slightly confused. 

"What for?"

"To change into something less conspicuous." 

My chin tipped up as it hit me. "Right." The Braithwaites had seen us dressed like this only hours ago, and my white shirt wouldn't be so difficult to spot in the moonlight. If we didn't want to be recognised in the event that we were seen, we'd have to completely change. I tapped my spur on the hardwood floor, considering how much money I planned to spare for a few moments. Saint Denis was not somewhere I wanted to shop, as the clothes here were extravagantly expensive.

Seeing my hesitance, Hoseok mentioned that the trip would be on him, so off we went to a fancy tailor. 

"Mister Jung!" came a friendly, slightly accented voice from inside the decorated room. It would have looked quite cramped with mannequins and display shelves if not for the high ceiling. My eyes wandered lazily over flawless leather shoes and tailored coats, then to another section of the store with cocktail dresses and other feminine attire as we navigated towards the counter. "Back so soon?" the friendly voice questioned, though he didn't seem to expect an explanation. "What can I help you with today?" 

With as big and friendly a smile as always, Hoseok explained that we needed simple night-hunting outfits, avoiding any incriminating detail. For the next half hour I grimaced through measurements, multiple clothing changes, and attempted to remain civil throughout the whole ordeal. I suddenly wondered if Hoseok was indeed as quiet and withdrawn as I, considering since the moment we walked into the store, either he or the tailor were filling the silence with effortlessly polite chatter. 

By the time we left the store, I was ready to curl up in my tent and not see another person for a week. And what did we have to show for it? One shirt and one pair of trousers each. The simplest plainest outfits possible, and it took the better part of an hour. I couldn't wait to get back in the saddle after that ordeal. 

It was around midnight by the time we trotted our mounts over the bridge out of Saint Denis. Despite being fit and well looked-after, Lady began to look tired, so we stuck to a slow trot the whole way there. Mateo could have gone for weeks, but he was bred for stamina, and the big shire mare beside us was not. She was too tired even to react when Mateo spooked at an alligator he deemed too close to the road for comfort. I didn't disagree with him and let him gallop for a while to get clear of it, but then we stopped to let the others catch up. 

Hoseok looked tired too I noticed when his mare trotted past us. We fell into step together and had a leisurely ride the rest of the way to Braithwaite manor. I wondered what else Hoseok did with his time, especially if he was looking exhausted now. It may have simply been the intimidating encounter from the afternoon that wore him down. He perked up as we dismounted the horses in the forests at the outskirts of the manor grounds, adrenaline most likely. 

I wrapped Mateo's reins around a branch making sure he was close enough to Lady for them to feel like they had company, but not so close that he could get up to mischief while I didn't have my eyes on him. "What's the plan?" I asked quietly. Hoseok seemed to jump a little at my voice, proving he was now quite thoroughly spiked with adrenaline. "Sorry," I added automatically, coming up beside him with my hand on the butt of my pistol. 

Hoseok took a deep breath and placed a hand on my back for a second. "My plan is to get in and out silently with the horse. If there are guards, well. I hoped you'd offer some stealthy takedown methods."

We walked together through the underbrush to the edge of the property and surveyed the land for a while. There wasn't a soul in sight, so we crossed the field, half crouching through large tobacco bushes, stopping whenever a shuffle or rattle of branches sounded nearby. We made it to the stable block uneventfully and crouched on the far side from the house, arms pressed against each other while we squatted in the darkness, backs against the wall. 

Hoseok was breathing deeply, stressed if I'd ever seen it. "Hey," I whispered, and his head whipped around to face me. "We'll be fine."

Hoseok's concerned expression faded just slightly as he nodded at me, and a tiny smile pulled at his lips but didn't touch his eyes. I saw sweat drip from his brow, down his jaw and neck, and decided I might need to be the one to take action. 

"Let's find out which stable he is in," I whispered again, and beckoned with my head for him to follow me. We crept around silently, peeking through the wooden rails of the first stall to see brown and black legs. The second stall contained a large, tall white horse with a thick mane and tail, and I almost stopped to appreciate it. In the third stall was our target, and my white legged friend spun in his stall to watch us. 

"Eureka." 

We didn't dally after finding him. Hoseok made a lasso out of some hanging rope and quietly led the chunky stallion out of his stall and off into the field. The pressure was really on when he nickered at his stable mates, head turned stressfully, and a few of them whinnied back. Luckily being jet black from the knees up made him almost invisible amongst the tobacco bushes.

Without the slightest hitch, we made it back to the tethered horses and mounted swiftly. Considering Hoseok was trembling by this point, I kept the colt by Mateo's side to give my companion a little more room to focus on himself. Feeling a sense of relief and victory, we galloped off into the night towards the camp.

Upon our arrival, Hoseok hastily dismounted Lady and untacked her. She seemed quite lethargic, but she happily joined the herd to graze as usual, Mateo following as soon as I slipped his bridle over his ears. An enthusiastic Jungkook greeted us as we walked towards the fire, and I passed him with a casual smile and slap on the shoulder as I took the young colt to Mateo's yard.

"Who's that then?" Jungkook asked Hoseok, and the elder wrapped an arm around my brother's shoulders. 

"I've decided to name him Ezekiel. He's a Gray stallion." Hoseok had clearly calmed down on the journey home, because he was no longer shaking with nerves, but smiling triumphantly.

"As in _Leigh_ Gray?" Jungkook asked, incredulous.

"The very sheriff of Rhodes himself." Hoseok turned to look at Jungkook now, the younger's eyes shining with wonder.

"You stole him?" I was sort of glad Jungkook was surprised as well. Surely this wasn't a common thing for Hoseok, especially considering how functionally useless he'd been during the heist.

"Well. I like to think of it as repayment. The Gray family promised me a hundred dollars for the delivery of three fine steeds to Braithwaite manor. But for some reason, I was only given twenty by the Braithwaite fool. Maybe I would have accepted this under regular circumstances. It wasn't a long trip. However, I like to charge a fee when I'm unexpectedly held up on the journey, and so I decided to take an extra… mmmm two or three hundred off the top. In horseflesh."

Jungkook gaped. Hell, I gaped. _Two? Hundred? Dollars?_ That horse may as well have been made of gold.

"You were held up?" came a stunned, concerned voice from around the fire, and Seokjin suddenly bustled towards us. “Is everyone okay?” 

I nodded and raised my arm to gently elbow his worried advances away. He fussed over Hoseok next, who didn’t mind the personal space invasion at all.

“You’re bleeding!” Seokjin suddenly exclaimed, and we all looked towards Hoseok, alarmed. 

“Oh, that was the little bangtail in the yard over there,” Hoseok explained, and lifted the hand Seokjin was holding tenderly. “Between hay and grass, that one. He’ll grow out of it.” I noticed the nasty bite between his thumb and forefinger, just before Seokjin dragged him by the arm towards the campfire.

I looked over at the colt while he bashed his front hoof against our wooden fence, impatient and probably lonely. I peered over at Mateo, grazing happily beside his mares, and decided to go take a rest while I could. It had been a long few days.

~~~~~~~~~~

By this point you may be beginning to realise Hoseok uses the most slang hehehe. This is because he’s a real people-person and fits into every group, so he picks up words and phrases from everywhere.

[Here is an image of the war zone called Bolger Glade!](https://i.imgur.com/vdtbubj.png)

SPOILER: New POV next chapter ;D

~~~~~~~~~~


	5. Teasing

A/N: The only Korean thing I'm not straying away from for this fic is putting their surnames first. Ain't nobody gonna make me write "Jimin Park" XD

(Ignore that I'm using Australian English to write about Americans who are actually Korean >_>)

_Please enjoy my gif of Jimin on Tilly (and Mateo and distant Yoongi) at Elysian Pools!_

~~~~~~~~~~

_Chapter Glossary:_

**The big pasture:** prison/penitentiary

 **Bit house:** a cheap saloon

 **Cut a path:** leave/go

 **Lunk-headed:** idiotic, senseless.

 **Longrider:** an outlaw who stays in the saddle for an extended period of time while on the run from the law.

 **Sweet on:** in love with.

 **Trimmings:** bread, butter, other essential dinner table foods.

  
  


_ Jimin’s POV  _

As usual, Tilly had found a patch of burs to lie in for the night, so I spent the morning picking them out of her hairy legs and tail, sitting far enough from the fire not to overheat but close enough to be the first to eat whenever Seokjin was finally finished. Tilly rested her hind leg, probably taking a nap while I combed my fingers through the coarse hair below her knee. 

I pulled the great knot of a tail between my knees to start on it, and suddenly noticed I’d forgotten all about the food when Jungkook brought me a bowl and waved it under my nose, cautiously so as not to spill the steaming broth.

I opened my mouth to speak, exclaim, inhale, anything, and a soft lump of bread was stuffed in it. Normally I might have been annoyed, but it was warm and lightly buttered, and I was famished. Too content even to frown at the cheeky grinning fool sitting himself down in front of me, I simply took my bowl from him and began to devour my breakfast. 

As usual, a while passed with near silence in the camp, every one of us too focused on our food to take so much as a breath. At other times of day we often chatted, shared stories, or even slowly ate alongside completing other tasks, but in the mornings we had a ritual. The only difference this morning is that there were seven of us instead of six, as Hoseok had been convinced to stay and rest in the camp, if nothing else to help watch the new horse and Yoongi's stallion as well. None of the mares had let him breed them before, but it wouldn't be a surprise if they did. I'd be devastated if Tilly fell pregnant, because it'd mean I needed a new riding horse, and honestly, I couldn't imagine that in the slightest. 

Despite her drawbacks, such as being small and slow compared to the other horses, she was the best horse in the world to me. Even now, smacking me in the face with her dreadlocked tail while I was trying to eat, I wouldn't have traded her for the world. Sure, a baby Tilly would be cute, but it would take her away from me for a while, and with our lifestyle, I didn't think I'd cope with that. 

Slurping the last of his stew down, Jungkook looked thoroughly content sitting on the grass beside Tilly's other hind leg. He rested his arms on his bent knees, bowl hanging in his right hand while he seemed to take in the moment and enjoy the taste of the meal while it lasted. He looked an odd mix of youthful and mature, kind of like the colt Hoseok had stolen. You could see how he looked as a child, but also how he would look in a few years. Also similar to the well-bred animal in the yard behind me, Jungkook was going to mature well indeed. Handsome like his brother but taller and broader, he seemed to grow more every single day.

Jungkook caught me staring, and it wasn't the first time. I didn't look away when his eyes met mine, but it never felt awkward with the good-natured kid. He had a way with people, a bit like Hoseok had with animals. Jungkook moved swiftly, threatening to kick my bowl out of my hands, and I yanked it away even though I'd long finished. 

"You sweet on me, Park Jimin?" he joked, and I chuckled, watching a smile spread across his face. 

I replied sarcastically. "Desperately." I got up then and snatched his eating utensils, preparing to collect everyone's dishes. I hadn't noticed that every one else had finished a while earlier and was moving about the camp, ready to start the day. Another usual day for me, it seemed.

Jungkook helped me comb Tilly's tail of the spiked burs until I was satisfied. I threatened to shave her if she did it again, and she sauntered off towards the other horses lazily. 

"Bounties today?" Jungkook asked, similarly ritualistic. 

"Bounties every day," I replied, swinging an arm over his shoulders as we walked towards the supply tent. "Show me how you shoot that rifle and I might consider taking you with me some time."

"Like hell you will," came the rumble of his brother's voice then, and it made me drop my arm from Jungkook and turn to shoot an annoyed glare at the bleach-haired grump.

"Why not?" 

"Because I said so."

And that was that usually, when Yoongi was involved. He was nothing if not protective, and although it was frustrating sometimes, it was for good reason. If I had family close to me, I'd do anything to keep them safe as well. Taehyung was almost like a brother to me after so many years, but he was as reckless as a rabid dog, so there was nothing I could do about that besides let it be. He’d also never gotten into any serious trouble since I busted him out of detention, so I never had much reason to worry.

Jungkook and I tacked up the herd and left them tethered to the hitching posts. Namjoon, who had returned in the early morning, was preparing his hooch mash beside Seokjin and Taehyung at the table. Seokjin had a large leather sheet spread out under a few small game carcasses he was skinning, and Taehyung was sharpening his knife. Someone had hurriedly erected a yard beside the new horse in the night to lock Mateo up, but he must have broken it or jumped out, because it was undergoing repairs. Surprisingly, even Hoseok was still here, holding the end of a large log while Yoongi tied it into place. Usually our rustler friend only turned up for a short while, left us a horse to look after, and came back every now and again to train it. I wondered briefly, while planting myself on a chair beside Namjoon, how long Hoseok would stay.

After a discussion, Yoongi decided to join Taehyung and me on a bounty hunt today. We’d seen quite a few huge names on posters in Saint Denis, and three would be better than two when taking on something like that. Mateo, Tilly, and Frost cantered side by side on the muddy road for the whole journey, seeming glad to be out and about again. Frost slid a little on a soft section of the path making Yoongi and I glance over to make sure they were okay, and finding her feet again, Frost caught back up like nothing ever happened. 

“Taehyung. Are you wearing Seokjin’s shirt?” Yoongi asked, his brows knitted slightly. I hadn’t noticed, but I realised right away that the shirt didn’t fit him at all.

Not quite embarrassed, but looking down at the bridged reins in his hands, Taehyung shrugged. “My shirt had blood on it.”

“Some excuse,” I pitched in. “ _My_ shirt has blood on it.”

Yoongi added even more to the observations, which seemed more and more like teasing. “ _That_ shirt has blood on it,” he said, pointing to a dirty patch on Taehyung’s left side. 

“I’ll get a new shirt, okay?” Taehyung mumbled, readjusting his seat in the saddle. He didn’t normally react to teasing.

“Oh, are you a little uncomfortable? Are those his trousers too?”

I couldn’t help but snort at Yoongi’s jeering, and we both laughed for a few more strides, just crossing the bridge into lower Saint Denis.

“Har har,” Taehyung grumbled, spurring Frost on to get ahead and lead the way to the sheriff station. 

At the bounty board Yoongi and I dismounted to look through the posters, and an officer approached Taehyung with a friendly greeting. They chatted for a short while before the officer asked him if our friend had a bounty hunters licence, and Yoongi fished in his saddlebags for it while I picked out a target to chase today. 

“Clementine Fitzgibbons,” I said, pulling the poster down as I turned towards the other two. Taehyung grinned at my overdone accent and high pitch. “She’s a horse thief.” 

“A damn lunk-headed criminal that one. Her and her whole band of longriders are wanted for countless thefts. But good luck: every bounty hunter in this damn country after her. A lot of them never come back.”

The officer handed Yoongi his permit back then, giving us a raised brow after his words of caution before tipping the brim of his hat and wandering back into the station. We all looked at each other then, and I wondered if they were as excited by the challenge as I was. We hadn’t come across a bounty we couldn’t bring in within a few days. 

“I wonder if a certain other horse thief might know a thing or two about her?” Yoongi mumbled lowly, not trying to convict Hoseok in front of a sheriff’s station. 

“If we can’t pick up her scent today we can ask tonight,” Taehyung said, turning Frost towards the road again. “Let’s make a move. It says ‘last seen by Elysian Pool’ yes?”

I remounted quickly and patted Tilly’s strong shoulders absently. “Sure does.” Yoongi fed Mateo a treat of some kind out of his saddlebag before remounting, which made Tilly sniff at the stallion’s saddle curiously. I smiled at her and dug out a carrot for her to have before we took off down the paved streets to the north.

It took as long as usual when we had to keep stopping to let Tilly catch her breath. The journey wasn’t particularly long, but Taehyung continuously reminded me it would have been shorter had I chosen a different horse. Actually, he said “a proper horse”, but I decided to let him have that after teasing him this morning.

By the lake, or ‘pool’ as it was for some reason known, it only took us half a lap of the shoreline to find signs of a large camp. Yoongi dismounted, but Taehyung and I kept riding at a slow walk through it all, looking for signs of a direction in which they went. Yoongi was quite the tracker compared to us, second only to Jin. He could tell you how many people and horses were here, and how many dogs. He even determined that they’d left almost a week ago.

“Further north, do you reckon?” Taehyung asked, twisting in Frost’s black leather saddle to look back at us.

Yoongi didn’t look up from shuffling his boot in the ashes of an old fire. “Mmm. Could be.”

I rode over to where Taehyung pointed out some tracks. “This could be anyone’s tracks to me,” I said quietly to Taehyung, and he didn’t even bother pretending he wasn’t thinking the same thing.

Tilly sniffed the dirt, dragging me forward a little as her reins jerked downwards. Yoongi looked over at us then and led Mateo to stand where the tracks began to disperse. “These are several different parties. Look,” he said, pointing with his foot in a few different places, but I didn’t see what he was pointing at. I just nodded cluelessly. “They most likely led other hunters on a wild goose chase. Some of these look as fresh as yesterday.” He sounded so sure of himself, but he hadn’t led us astray yet, so we followed loyally as he led us towards the water. “What the other hunters didn’t think to check,” Yoongi began while trudging over the old campsite and towards the pool. “-Is if they went this way.”

It slowly dawned on me as he pointed out subtle signs of mass animal movement. Right to the edge of the water it has been concealed, but as soon as you looked at the surrounding shrubbery, twigs were snapped off roughly, leaves were crushed into the mud, the entire pool had a slight divot in the shoreline where a whole herd and several carts had eroded it away. It wasn’t at all obvious, but when you put the whole picture together it became clear. They had left through the water.

“So west then,” Taehyung said, stating the obvious. 

Yoongi looked behind himself to lock eyes with Taehyung, but he seemed to decide not to justify that with an answer. “Let’s cut a path out of here before someone else finds out which way we’re tracking them.”

Simply because of Taehyung’s whining, we went around the pool instead of through it. It should have been me complaining since my horse was closer to the ground than his. Yoongi easily picked up a trail of cart wheels, and we followed them at a gallop. There were a few points where we had to stop, backtrack, find where the weather and wildlife had worn the tracks away, but after an hour or thereabouts, Taehyung pointed out a plume of smoke amongst the thick Roanoke forest. 

"Leave the horses," Yoongi said lowly. "Bring your guns. We'll scope it out first." 

Closer now, we heard sounds of the camp while crawling on our bellies up the side of a hill. I hung back while the other two peeked out from either side of a boulder, and after a few moments ducked back down.

"That's a lot of people," Taehyung whispered, sounding a little more intimidated than he usually did. Then again, in our past we often hadn’t faced so much as five bandits at once.

Yoongi thought for a while, locking eyes with each of us briefly. "We are going to have to play it smart," he began, his voice just a breath. "There are over twenty people and at least as many horses. They're armed and guarding from every angle. What do we have to cause a distraction?"

I thought for a second about the ingredients for a Molotov cocktail in my saddle pouches. I didn't get to suggest it, however. Quickly and without warning, Yoongi was tackled and tumbling down the hill a few metres, and it took a moment to realise what happened. Taehyung and I had loaded pistols trained on his attacker in the blink of an eye, but Taehyung suddenly hissed at me to lower it. 

"It's Lucrecia," he whispered, his Colt pointed at the grass now, and I lowered mine as well. I didn't recognise the girl holding Yoongi in a headlock, but I knew the name. She was a friend of Hoseok's. What a surprise to find her with a group of outlaw horse rustlers. 

"You idiots!" she hissed in a thick Mexican accent. "Do you know what she will do if she finds you here?" Yoongi struggled in her grip until she let him go, and I noticed a gash on his forehead, covered in dirt. 

"What are _you_ doing here?" Taehyung hissed back, creeping closer so to talk more quietly. 

"It doesn't matter. You have to go; you can't catch Clementine."

Yoongi stuffed his volcanic pistol back into the holster and glared at Lucrecia, keeping himself low to the ground. 

"What makes you think we can't?" Yoongi grumbled, understandably riled. 

"I won't let you." Tense moments passed before the young woman sighed and reached into a pouch on her gunbelt. "Take this and go. I don't want anything happening to friends of Hoseok."

Yoongi took a decent pile of cash from Lucrecia's outstretched hand, eyeing it for a few seconds before looking back at her, expression hard but eyes curious. He nodded after a pause, and then looked over at us. We didn't need any words to pass between us, it was clear we weren't going to turn in a bounty this time. Instead, we journeyed all the way here to get paid for nothing. I hadn't counted the money, but it looked like more than we'd get for Fitzgibbons, anyway. 

With little more than another second of eye contact, the woman turned away from Yoongi and snuck out of sight, silent as a cat. I peeked curiously around the rock as Yoongi and Taehyung shuffled back down the hill. The camp was as big as I expected, a few makeshift corrals filled with decent-looking horses lounging in the shade from the woods. There weren't too many tents, only a few large ones on either side of the corrals, and the outlaws bustled around busily. At a hiss from Yoongi, I slid back down the hill to join them. We made our way back to camp, not looking back.

That evening was spent marvelling at how cool the weather had suddenly become as we gathered around a fire and ate stew and trimmings. Even this deep in the swamp, we were only sweating a little when this close to an open flame. It was a vast improvement. Namjoon stood up from the gathering before anyone else, claiming he had to finish flavouring his latest brew.

With Hoseok still here it felt a little different, but not uncomfortable. He wasn’t as relaxed as we were; I assumed it didn’t feel like home for him. On the topic, I suddenly looked up at him and finished my mouthful.

“Hoseok. What do you do when you disappear from camp? Do you have a home? Or do you rough it like us?”

Looking a tiny bit confronted, Hoseok ogled me for a moment before also swallowing to answer. “Oh, you know. Taverns here, bit houses there… I don’t sleep outdoors much.”

“You always pay for the night? Every night?” Taehyung asked, swinging to face him even though they were right beside each other on a wooden bench.

Hoseok smiled a little, looking down at his food and shook his head. “When I know the owner they often let me use a room for free, or in exchange for some odd jobs.”

“Why not sleep out here for free?” I asked, genuinely curious, and didn’t expect him to seem hesitant to answer. I wasn’t going to pry if he didn’t want to, but he didn’t leave us waiting long.

“I’m just used to the comfort of being indoors,” he said quietly, and it was rather final. Feeling like there was a lot more to it than that, I tried to think of a new topic to talk about so that I didn’t sit there wondering. 

“I think Taehyung had trouble adjusting to sleeping out here when I first busted him out of the big pasture.”

Taehyung scoffed. “You didn’t even have a tent, and on the first night, it _rained_.”

Jungkook, Seokjin, and Yoongi laughed, and Taehyung cracked a grin then as well. Hoseok seemed to be back to himself, smiling along while finishing his dinner. 

“It can be hard, for a spell,” Yoongi began, putting his empty bowl down beside him. “But I sleep _too_ well in beds now.”

“You sleep too well in general,” Namjoon called from his ‘shine still beside our wagon. Jungkook snorted. 

"So what happened tonight anyway?" Hoseok questioned, glancing at Taehyung and then me. We'd mentioned that it was a long story, but not exactly what had happened, and all eyes fell on me then, curious. 

"Well. We tracked the bounty to Elysian Pool and managed to find where they went from there, thanks to Yoongi." I beckoned towards him with a nod of my head. "We crept up to their camp to size it up, and there were so many horses there. She must be the real deal, Fitzgibbons."

"What then?" Jungkook begged, eyes round as saucers with anticipation. 

"Out of nowhere, this woman just tackles Yoongi, and they go rolling down the hill!"

Seokjin and Jungkook rocked back in surprise, and Hoseok's brow furrowed, confusion clear on his features. He tilted his head at me and questioned: "A woman?"

"Yeah, and Taehyung knew her!"

"So did I," Yoongi grumbled, inspecting the dirty streaks on his sleeves from said tumble. His forehead gash had been well cleaned and was now decorating the skin above his right eyebrow. It suited his disgruntled expression. At Hoseok then, Yoongi continued: "and so do you."

"Oh, me? Who was she?" Shocked, Hoseok look from Yoongi to me expectantly. 

"Er, Lu… Crecia?" I attempted, and his face lit up like a lightbulb had gone on over his head, then the expression faltered. 

"Ah… so what happened when she found you?" 

"She threatened us," Yoongi interjected, cutting me off, and then Taehyung corrected him.

"Not really; she warned us. Said we couldn't take Fitzgibbons on, you see. Paid us to stay away so we wouldn't get hurt." There was a short hush around the fire while Hoseok thought about that. 

"Paid you how much?" he enquired, and I was actually wondering the same thing. 

Yoongi dug in his pouch that hung on his belt and pulled out the notes, and he carelessly handed the whole stack to Hoseok. I knew Hoseok quite well and trusted him, but he wasn't _really_ one of us, so it made my gut clench just a little, and only for a moment. Hoseok flicked through the slightly crumpled pile and whistled lowly before finishing. 

"More than the bounty would have paid. They must be making a killing."

"Do you know Fitzgibbons?" I asked curiously. 

Hoseok locked eyes with me for a moment and handed the paper back to Yoongi. He gulped. "We're… acquainted." 

His hesitant tone caused a visible wave of interest to show on all of our faces. Considering how closed-off Hoseok usually was about his life, I wasn't going to pry, but apparently Taehyung didn't have quite so much tact. " _Acquainted_?" He said with a nudge and a wonky brow. "Horse rustlers just your type, eh?" 

Hoseok positively blazed at that, but he managed to keep his expression under control despite the blood colouring his neck and cheeks. "Not at all," he said calmly, and he seemed to make the decision then and there to get himself gone. He stood and took his eating utensils to our storage crate and swished some water over them thoughtfully. "And Cia was right to warn you. Don't go after Clementine again." 

I watched him for a while, contemplating his warning. He packed a few things into Lady's saddle bags and tacked her up, and we were silent as he did so. It had been an interesting evening.

As usual, Hoseok pulled his mare up beside Namjoon before leaving to talk quietly over at the moonshine still. Drowsiness set in when I thought about standing up to clean dishes. Similarly sleepy-looking, Jungkook rose and joined me in collecting bowls and spoons, and we got them all washed in half the time. 

"Cool enough to sleep by the fire tonight?" Jungkook asked me, his eyelids a little heavy when I looked at him. 

"You like sleeping outside the tent, don't you?" I said with a grin. Jungkook always took the opportunity to rough it under the stars, and I didn't know if it was simply being out of the tent he liked, or just not sleeping right next to his brother. Whatever it was, I enjoyed it too if he was beside me. There was something fun about watching the stars and whispering to each other until we fell asleep. 

"Yeah," he said with a smile now as well. We splashed our faces with some cool water from the barrel by the wagon and then parted to prepare ourselves for sleep. I kicked off my boots, shrugged out of my vest, and hung up my gunbelt, and then dragged my bedroll out to lay it beside the fire, head-end close to where Jungkook lay his. 

Luckily, we were far enough away from the others' tents that they never seemed to hear us chatting if we were quiet enough. We'd been scolded only on the few occasions that something was too funny to control our laughter. It was almost always something of Yoongi's that would come flying out of his tent towards us, often making contact despite his slightly lacking coordination. 

Jungkook let out a huge sigh as he got comfortable, lying on his back with his hands clasped over his chest. Facing the fire, I laid on my side and watched it crackle and flare up around its kindling. Everyone else had retired to their tents except Seokjin, who stepped over my feet to feed a few more logs into the fire. We mumbled our thanks to him as he wished us goodnight and sauntered off. 

Jungkook was unusually quiet.

"What's on your mind?" I whispered, knowing it was out of character for him.

"Hoseok. And that horse thief. Do you think he's one of them?" 

My lips twisted for a moment. It had crossed my mind. "Who knows? He's secretive enough. But… does it matter?"

Jungkook didn't answer for a while, and before he did he spun to lie on his belly, head propped up on his arms while he looked at me. "I just hope he ain't in any danger."

"He seems to be friends with everyone, apparently on both sides of the law. I think he can take care of himself."

Jungkook seemed to accept that, eyes on the dirt between our beds. Sounds of the swamp filled the silence, and we could faintly hear travelers from the road almost a mile away as they passed. It wasn't my favourite place to camp, but something about this place was calming. Maybe it was the chorus of cicadas, or the unlikeliness for it to get too cold here, in contrast to the north or down in the New Austin desert. Here it would stay comfortably warm year-round, and a fire would be all we needed. Sadly, I was the only one who hated the cold, and I knew we'd move soon. Getting away from the humidity would be worth it, at least. 

~~~~~~~~~~


	6. A Measly Few Dollars

~~~~~~~~~~

_ Chapter Glossary: _

**Blazes:** Hell

**Lame:** of a horse usually, it means sore/limping in the leg/s

**Painted Cat:** prostitute. Also 'painted lady'

** Rip-roarin’: ** impressive

** Sappy: ** young, not firm, weak.

**Soft on:** the same as 'sweet on' - in love with/crushing on.

**Too big for his breeches:** Said of someone who is above his business, arrogant, haughty.

** Uncork a bronc: ** to train/tame a horse to be ridden.

** Wake Snakes: ** to raise a ruckus.

_ Yoongi’s POV _

A week passed while we took on some slightly smaller bounties for a decent amount of cash, and Namjoon worked around the clock to sell the most moonshine possible to the people of Saint Denis. I woke at dawn on the first morning of October to a distressed shout followed by a low scolding curse. Hoseok must have been training that horse, or more accurately, avoiding bites and kicks while attempting to train it. I rose to start the day and took a few minutes for myself before investigating what chaos was ensuing behind the camp. Enjoying the chill of the morning for once, I trudged past the camps of my still-sleeping posee mates and found Hoseok in a small clearing, ankle-deep in mud with a thrashing, rearing stallion at the end of a rope. It brought me no small joy to see him struggling with a horse. If nothing else, it reminded me that he couldn’t  literally talk to them and hear them talk back, since that’s what it seemed like a lot of the time. 

“What did you do to him?” I prodded, making him dart his eyes towards me, a flustered expression painting his face red.

“I asked him nicely if we could go for a short walk,” Hoseok grumbled sarcastically, finally having a second to relax when the beast stood still to pant deeply from the exertion. “You’re getting a bit big for your breeches, pal,” he said to the colt, and its black ear turned to point at him lazily. “I’ve uncorked meaner broncs than you.”

I approached slowly, standing at a safe distance from the colt’s shoulder, and raised my hand towards him. He turned his head to sniff my hand, then calmly turned away again, disinterested. 

“He likes you,” Hoseok said, annoyed, and squelched through the mud to attempt to offer his own hand, but the stallion just leapt away, all four feet leaving the ground for a moment. Hoseok shouted unexpectedly as he was yanked off his feet and landed flat in the mud, not letting go of the rope. 

“Well done holding on,” I said with a huge smirk and went to take the rope from him so he could stand up.

“Thanks,” he spat sarcastically and peeled himself out of the swampy muck. 

“What’s it’s name again?” I asked quietly, approaching slowly again. This time I was even able to put a hand on his neck and stroke under his jet black mane. 

Hoseok wiped himself off a little, but not to much avail. “Ezekiel.” He tramped towards us, but he stopped when he saw me. “What in the blazes-”

“He’s not fond of you,” I teased, and Hoseok groaned slightly before turning away from me to go towards the Kamassa River, likely to clean up.

“See if you can teach him to stop waking snakes every time I get near him,” Hoseok called over his shoulder. I grinned and looked at Ezekiel then. He was calm, I thought, by the relaxed stance and gentle eyes. I didn’t trust him, but I could tell he wasn’t afraid of me.

Already bored of just standing here patting him, I lead him back to camp and put him in his yard. The shoreline was a little less muddy than the clearing in which Hoseok had chosen to stop the horse, and I sat on the edge of it as the sun began to peek through the trees over Bayou Nwa on the other side of the river. Hoseok stood waist-deep in water, his shirt hanging on a nearby branch, belt and boots resting on the grass beside me, and his trousers in his hands getting a thorough wash. 

“Maybe he just doesn’t know me well enough yet,” Hoseok mused, not looking up from rinsing the black pants. “You lead him all that way here, and the night we took him. I reckon he’s just sensitive.”

“You lost a glove,” I said, pointing at the blue leather as it slowly sunk under the surface. Hoseok pulled the other glove out of his trousers pocket, and obviously expecting there to be two, he followed my finger with his eyes and dove for it. 

“Thank you. Would have been up shit creek without these.”

“You only have one pair of gloves?” I asked, and Hoseok hummed in thought.

“I have another, but they don’t feel quite right. And the fella who made me these kicked the bucket last year.” He inspected them for a second, and then shoved them back into his trousers. “And I can’t ride without them.”

I snorted. “Why not?”

Hoseok inspected his clean clothing and decided to make for the shore, holding the black cotton scrunched in front of his nakedness. I stood and picked up his boots and belt, and then turned away while he squeezed water from his clothes and dressed.

“I just never have, so my hands aren’t calloused.” He walked up to me with a mumble of thanks, and while I reached out to hand him his boots, his hand reached for the underside of my arm where he slid his touch along my arm. I grimaced a little, surprised at how silky-smooth his skin was. I had met young children with tougher hands.

“Won’t sleep outdoors, hands like a baby; I never knew you were so sappy.”

Hoseok grinned wider, taking his boots and shoving his feet into them. “I enjoy the finer things.”

My eyes rolled as he strapped his gunbelt back on. We walked back into camp past the stallions in their yards, and Hoseok glanced over at the black one. “He looks so calm now.”

“Can you approach him in here easily?” I asked, and we stopped at the wooden gate. Hoseok swung himself over it effortlessly and walked up to Ezekiel, one hand very slowly rising towards him. Eyeing him, the stallion eventually decided to meet his hand with his nose.

Hoseok looked back at me, bewildered, but suddenly furrowed his brow. “Gloves.”

I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but it hit me. I hadn’t worn mine yet this morning, and Hoseok likely had been since he arrived. Now, with the blue leather bunched in his pocket instead, he was able to stroke the glossy black neck without an issue. “Since we’ve been in Lemoyne I haven’t worn them; too stinkin’ hot.” I fiddled absently with the string of my leather gauntlets I wore instead.

“Someone’s hurt him,” Hoseok said, expression dark. “And gloves are what he remembers.”

I sighed. “I guess you better start on some callouses,” I teased and walked off towards the fire. 

Taehyung decided to sleep for most of the morning, so we didn’t bother making a trip to Saint Denis for bounty posters. “I don’t want to be out for the whole afternoon and have to bring a target to the station in the middle of the night,” Jimin complained, and so we decided we would have a break. 

“It’s hunting day,” Seokjin mentioned in a conversation break. “We could use some more rifles out there.

“Especially since I don’t have one,” Jungkook mumbled, obviously still disgruntled about that. He had his revolver I bought him years ago, and a bow we picked up from a travelling lady selling all kinds of obscurities. He didn’t need a rifle. 

“How long since the last time you snagged a few elk for us, Yoongi?”

I raised my brow at Seokjin, surprised and amused by the nerve. “I make money too, you know.”

He nodded, grinning down at his gold and black rolling block rifle as he finished reassembling it. “We can take the wagon and come back this evening.

“Actually Tilly is lame today, Jin,” Jimin said with a pout. “She had a sharp stone in her hoof this morning.”

Seokjin harrumphed and then turned his gaze to eye Hoseok.

Seeming to have wandered towards us at the right time, the rustler shook his head, lips poking out. “Sorry, I don’t have a harness for Lady.”

Seokjin sighed and slapped his knees before standing up then. “Well, then we do it the old fashioned way. Are you in, bounty hunters?” 

Taehyung, who had been lounging against his saddle in the storage tent, suddenly sprung up as well. “I’m in!”

I met Jimin’s eyes, and he wiggled his eyebrows back at me suggestively. It took all of my strength not to laugh out loud. It seemed we were both thinking the same thing these days: Taehyung was very much soft on Seokjin. 

Jimin was whittling by the fire when Jungkook went to sit beside him and leant against him to peer at the half-shaped wood. “You can ride on Denali with me if you want,” Jungkook offered, and Jimin turned to him, his hands stopping their work for a moment. 

“No, it’s fine.I think four of you will be able to handle a few deer.”

“Elk!” Seokjin corrected from the hitching posts where he was tacking up his mare. 

“ Elk ,” Jimin mimicked. Jungkook giggled. 

“See you when we get back, then.”

As soon as we were on the road, I remembered what it was like to travel with this bunch, and why my answer to join a hunting party was often ‘no.’ It was  _ endless _ chatter: conversations about everything and nothing, constant questions and pestering, needless, annoying rambling. Taehyung was almost worse than Jungkook today, describing some outfits he’d seen in the windows in Saint Denis, explaining in vivid detail the foreign accents he’d heard from the city’s residents, and attempting to mimic them, theorising about what would be the fastest horse out of the selection he’d seen in the stables. I almost made an excuse to drop back and follow them out of hearing distance. 

Heading north up the Kamassa River with Seokjin’s golden mare tripping over her feet every five minutes, it was easily an hour and a half of fast trotting before we made it to Elysian Pool where we’d been around a week ago in the search of Clementine Fitzgibbons. We left the horses at a small patch of woodlands with their reins tied around a tree and continued on foot to find a herd of elk, though looking around I could only see white tails and mustangs. 

Seokjin didn’t seem discouraged. Jungkook had quite the eye for archery and bagged us a few huge beavers while we quietly wandered the dam. He was even able to arc an arrow to ground a flying hawk. Two hours passed while we searched high and low for big game. We found their tracks by the water late in the afternoon and tracked two huge bull elk to a gully by the northern end of the river. We followed Seokjin’s lead in crouching down behind a few rows of trees.

In a whisper, he explained the plan. “Yoongi and I will line up our shots and fire on Jungkook’s count. Do not fire unless you have the shot. Hear me?”

Unaffected by his attempt at leadership, I held Seokjin’s eyes, not justifying that with an answer. Vaguely intimidated by my unwavering expression, he turned to Jungkook, and my brother nodded once. He may have been older than me, but he was definitely not the boss of me.

Seokjin aimed his rolling block rifle with practiced ease, and I chambered a round and copied him. With the scope pressed to my cheek, I hummed to confirm my shot, and Jungkook almost silently counted down from three. I took a deep breath, and slowly began to exhale before squeezing the trigger. It was in perfect synchronisation: both bull elks dropped soundlessly to the leaf litter as our shots rang through the cooling evening, birds scattering from the trees.

Jungkook let out a low whistle. “Rip-roarin’ timing,” he praised. “I thought only one of you fired for a hot minute.”

We spent the next half hour carving up the carcasses in pairs. With bulging sacks of meat, antlers, and pelts, we bee-lined back to the horses and set out in the dark evening back to Bayou Nwa. 

I retreated to my tent the moment I’d finished my dinner that night, absolutely beyond my capacity for social interactions. Unfortunately, it didn’t protect me from hearing all of the conversations that ensued. 

“So we’re moving again soon?” Seokjin questioned from somewhere near the wagon, I assumed. 

As expected, it was directed at Namjoon. “Not yet, but as soon as we’re ready. I’m in need of a break from brewing, and we have enough money to stay comfortable for a while without working.”

“Where are we headed, boss?” my brother asked next.

“I was discussing with Hoseok this morning a farm up in Ambarino, just past Granite Pass.”

“A farm?” Taehyung and Jimin chorused.

“Mhm. It’s been abandoned for a while, but squatters rotate through every now and then. It just so happens that Hoseok heard they moved on recently, so the place should be empty.”

“Does this farm have… A house? And beds?” My brother’s voice sounded hesitantly hopeful.

“I didn’t ask,” Namjoon replied. “But if we are all ready and happy with that, we can leave next week. It would be a blessing to winter in fertile country  and with the option to shelter indoors if we need it.”

I mused, feeling heavy with tiredness now, that Namjoon had never said anything I agreed with more, and almost immediately after that I drifted into sleep.

It was the day we planned to leave, later than we had wanted, but still before the middle of October. With the rising of the sun brought a bustle of activity that not even a dead man could have slept through. Namjoon seemed more excited than usual, hastening us to finish packing so we could get on the road. It may have been a long journey, but there were only so many hands, and a whole camp of six worth of barrels, crates, tents, and other miscellaneous essentials to pack. We seemed to finish the task in record time at least, and by mid morning we were on the road heading north towards Roanoke Ridge. 

Knowing we had a few nights under the stars ahead of us was a good incentive to set a fast pace. The horses were fresh from the cool morning, and Tilly set a blazing pace compared to usual. Jimin had to hold her back from galloping. Mateo wanted to stretch his legs as well; I could tell from his head-tossing, tail-swishing, and tense gaits. It was rather uncomfortable riding a coiled spring like this, but after a few hours of this he would appreciate all of the energy I saved him.

We crossed into New Hannover in seemingly record time. Taehyung absently dropped back beside me at some point, maybe three hours into the trip, but I realised from his completely absent expression that it hadn't been on his command that Frost had slowed to walk beside us. Travelling a little more slowly now to give the horses a short rest, Taehyung didn't seem to notice the change in where he was positioned, and I grabbed my hat by the crown and tapped him on the head with it.

"What in tarnation-!?" he exclaimed, ducking away in shock. 

I grinned. "Welcome to the back line." 

"How did I get back here?" he asked, quiet enough to be talking to himself, and we noticed what it was about at the same time. Frost and Mateo were playing sweetly, gently nipping at each other as they walked side by side so close our boots brushed. 

Taehyung sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yer a painted cat, Frost," he scolded, but he left her to flirt for a while, frowning off into the distance. Mateo began to nicker a little too excitedly at her after a while, his body shuddering under me with his grunts, and I steered him away to walk on the other side of the wagon where Namjoon and Jungkook plodded along.

"Charming," Namjoon said from atop his Turkoman. I didn't need him to explain; I could tell from where he'd glanced and the smirk on his face that Mateo was showing off his entire manhood, just to prove to Frost how manly he was. I tapped his sides with my spurs to encourage him to put it away, blushing. 

"He can't help it how pretty she is," Taehyung teased, and there was a collective snickering amongst the posse that made me forget I'd been embarrassed. Sometimes it seemed more effort than it was worth to have a stallion, having to keep him locked away all the time, but I never regretted it. Mateo was my best mate. I was sure no other horse would ever be the same. 

The day passed without a hitch, humidity changing into dry, crisp breezes that had us reaching for our coats. We passed Emerald Ranch just before sundown. Sprawling hills of green grass and grazing wildlife were a welcoming sight. As the sun dipped below the hills to the west, Namjoon directed us off the path to a clearing by Heartland Overflow. Pronghorns scattered away and blacktailed jackrabbits dived for their burrows. The chill in the air was such a relief. No longer sweating for once, I swung a leg over Mateo's neck and slid onto the grass with a thump of my boots. The evening passed quickly. I was tired and stiff, but rejuvenated and content. Everyone but Jimin was enjoying the cool air. He sat three inches from the fire, holding bare hands towards it and occasionally rubbing them together. His face was flushed from the heat, but somehow he still thought he was too cold. I wondered how he supposed he'd cope another day further north of here and in the midst of what was shaping up to be a bitter winter.

Seokjin got a break from cooking for once, because Taehyung had spotted a wild boar as we stopped and managed to snag it for our dinner. He even worked to carve it up and hung it to roast over our fire. Stuffed full of pork, we lounged around the makeshift camp, mostly quiet until Jungkook perked up to his usual chipper self.

"How about a campfire story?"

Ever the one to please Jungkook, Jimin sat back from the fire just for long enough to stretch, groan, and agree to indulge him.

"You're not gonna tell the one about your first horse again are you?" Namjoon mumbled, lying belly-up, draped over a log we had dragged close to the fire. 

"No," he said, his tone dipping and rising again as he dragged the word out. "I am gonna tell one about Taehyung and my first bounty together."

"Oh, I haven't heard this," Seokjin said, sitting up a little and putting down the book he'd been reading. Jungkook looked like an excited child, eyes round and pointed at Jimin. 

"Taehyung can help me tell it," he said, and I got comfortable, knowing we'd be in for quite the journey listening to these two.

"It all started on a snowy evening in Annesburg…"

_ Jimin's POV (6 years earlier) _

Trudging though the day’s snowfall astride Tilly, I followed a vague path towards the town after our nightly hunting expedition. Most of the game was hung from my saddle or slung over my mount’s rump, and it didn’t seem to hinder her at all. The butcher in annesburg gave us a good deal on our game, since there had recently been a decline in hunting for the region. Excitingly, it was finally the day that we would make enough money to buy our bounty-hunter licences. Taehyung, riding a tiny Morgan horse named Apple and looking slightly hilarious while doing it, followed in the trench Tilly left in the snow. He may have lost that horse forever if he tried to walk her through it without us cutting a path. 

Taehyung accepted a small handful of cash from the butcher with a huge smile, and we walked across to the sheriff’s station to immediately purchase our licences. The deputy looked skeptical of us, but handed them over, our names signed on the bottom in black ink. 

As we walked precariously through the sludge of snow and mud back to our camp, there was an air of confidence between us, and even without speaking we each knew how the other felt. It was the beginning of a new era for us: from game hunters to bounty hunters. Just eighteen years old, we already knew it was something we would love and be great at, and we worked so well as a team that we felt nothing but optimism for what awaited us.

I slept curled towards the fire for warmth, but I was in such high spirits that I didn’t mind the cold for once. It stopped snowing overnight thankfully, and in the morning the sun was shining brightly, not a cloud in the sky. 

“It’s a sign,” Taehyung said, seeming content with the way the snow had melted. It made the ground wet and slippery, but at least, if the sun stayed this bright and warm, it would dry by the afternoon. 

After cleaning our rifles and checking all of our gear for damage, we made our way back to the Sheriff’s station bright and early to find our first job. We spent too long staring at the posters and bickering over which to choose and why, stepping aside when a seasoned-looking hunter would swagger up to the board, rip off a poster in two seconds flat, and leave as quickly as he’d arrived. We eventually decided on one and took the poster, and then left at a canter from Annesburg north towards Brandywine Drop. 

Roanoke Ridge was not my favourite place to be. It was mountainous, which Tilly struggled with, and cold, which I struggled with. However, we’d gotten into trouble in the west a little while ago thanks to Taehyung picking on an irritable deputy on the road, and so we had to flee the state for a while. I was relieved to hear that news of the aggravation hadn’t reached this far east. If he'd sabotaged my chance at a bounty licence, I'd have wrung his neck.

The trip was a few miles of treacherous mountain paths, and Tilly was puffing heavily only half way there, so we slowed our pace a little for the last leg. I swore an oath to fitten her up a little, and maybe ease back on the sweet treats, so that journeys like these wouldn't be so difficult. 

At the 'last known location' listed on our poster, we happened across an aggressively barking red and white foxhound outside of a small, abandoned-looking cabin. Inside, a smash of glass spooked Taehyung's horse and caused us to reach for our pistols. Bursting outside the broken front door and loading a shotgun with a menacing  _ cha-chink _ , the scowling face of a man who looked just like the drawing on our poster suddenly locked on us, and the shotgun swung to point in Taehyung's direction. Before stopping to think, we both drew our pistols and fired. 

Birds flapped noisily overhead for a few long moments. My revolver smoked in front of me, still pointed ahead until I lowered my arm and dared look at the lifeless body now splayed on the grass. The hound continued its barking, but backed away a little now instead of approaching menacingly. I looked at Taehyung.

Thankfully, despite not having killed anyone before, we both handled it well. We knew we'd come here to probably take this criminal to his death, and we wouldn't have enjoyed the job in the first place if we were concerned about leaving a trail of bodies. I didn't feel good about it, but with that shotgun in his hands, it was him or us. 

Tilly didn't mind the downhill trip so much as she carried me and the corpse back to the station. Taehyung had taken the target's shotgun and untied the dog from it's chain so it wasn't doomed to be abandoned. It followed us back to Annesburg, but disappeared at some point. 

Turning the body in made us our first paycheck, and while it was a measly few dollars each, it had been a success, and the deputy who'd signed our licenses the day before congratulated us both. We celebrated by sharing a bottle of rum we had picked up in the shack earlier, and fell asleep until noon the next day. 

~~~~~~~~~~

_ Yoongi's POV (present day) _

"Why didn't you keep the dog?" Jungkook asked, almost whining, and I rolled my eyes.

"It was likely to bite my hand off," Taehyung explained, and Jimin agreed with a nod. "And we had enough trouble looking after ourselves and our mares at that point."

"So when did you get Frost?" Seokjin asked, making Taehyung turn to face him. 

"Er, was it about a year later?" Taehyung asked Jimin. 

"Right, because we met Hoseok after that."

"Yeah, and he trained her for me so I could actually ride her." Taehyung nodded thoughtfully, looking back at Seokjin. 

"So you've known Hoseok longer than us?"

"A lot longer," Jimin said then, turning around to warm his back. "He introduced us to Namjoon."

Namjoon piped up then, and I'd thought he was asleep until then. "Hoseok told me he had a gift for me," he chuckled. "And so when I saw these scrawny nineteen-year-olds I wondered what the hell he was playing at."

"I'm not scrawny," Jimin defended.

"You were five years ago."

Jungkook wheezed laughing and Jimin pouted. 

I found myself drifting away from their banter, lying comfortably by the crackling fire on my bedroll, and fell asleep with a mind full of Hoseok.

~~~~~~~~~~

_Eeeeeeeee implied Hogi >u< Fangirls about my own fic since 2013._

Gif is Taehyung on tiny Morgan mare 'Apple' hehehe

Thanks for reading!


	7. The Voice of the Woods

Welcome welcome welcome to chapter 6 with Seokjin and De la Luna leading the charge into a new and exciting place :o

Just though I would start this chapter off with an image of Hoseok's stolen colt > **[Ezekiel](https://i.imgur.com/WbI294P.png)! **He handsome. And he wearing Mateo's saddle because RDR2 kept disconnecting me so I couldn't take a new pic 8)

~~~~~~~~~~

_ Chapter Glossary _

** Snapper: ** An impudent tattler, impertinent talk, constant chatter.

**Union suit:** Underwear in those times (a big ol’ onesie that buttons up down the front. You can assume they all wear a thin one usually and a thick one when it’s cold.) I do mostly call it 'underwear' in this fic! It lookie like this > [clicky](https://miro.medium.com/max/2195/0*nDKE8CywgYodYOeU) _So if you see 'underwear' in my fic, I don't mean tighty whiteys huehue_

** Unwound:  ** Said of a horse when bucking.

_ Seokjin's POV _

Traveling north was not a common thing to do this time of year, as it was getting chilly even in the warmest parts of the day. Luna would grow a thick coat before long. I didn't mind the cold when I had appropriate clothing, especially gloves. There was nothing worse than riding with frozen hands. It made me feel for poor Jimin on the wagon beside me, shivering even with a thick union suit, knitted jumper, and the woolliest coat he could buy. 

"Why don't we trade places for a while?" I offered him, knowing that riding kept me warmer than sitting on a frigid wooden bench. He almost moaned in response. 

" _ Please. _ " Just sitting on my saddle made him hum with appreciation. "Yer a lifesaver."

Plonking down on the wagon and taking Tilly's reins, I tried not to immediately regret my altruism. "Don't mention it."

Like opposite magnets, Jimin and Jungkook drifted together to trot side by side. I didn't notice Frost and Taehyung sneak up on my other side until Tilly began to drift away from Frost and I had to steer her back onto the path. Apart from Mateo at this particular time of the year, all of the horses were rightfully afraid of Frost. Hell, I was afraid of Frost. But she was perfect for our lifestyle, being easy to feed, agile, strong, brave, and fast. She had it all, like Mateo, Denali, and Voltaire. De la Luna was a little slower, and not quite so brave whenever bullets were flying. Luckily for her, I wasn't in the crossfire all that often. 

Taehyung backed Frost off until she was trotting beside the wagon where she couldn't make nasty faces at Tilly so easily, and I looked over to see if he wanted my attention. 

"Sick of the saddle?" he asked, sounding a little confused.

"No, no. Sick of watching Jimin turn into an icicle up here."

"Ah, how kind of you." Taehyung looked past me to the pair who were now chuckling at each other, as usual. "I'll be surprised if he doesn't just climb on Denali with Jungkook."

I smirked. "Me too." It was no secret that those two were attached at the hip. Jungkook was as attentive, intelligent, and skilled an apprentice as I could have asked for. He was a natural with a rifle—which I kept precariously hidden from his brother—and learnt quickly how to create quality goods. I was glad the bounty hunters were gone for the majority of the time, though. When Jimin was around, Jungkook would flutter to his side like a moth to a lamp, and I knew his productivity was done for the day. Luckily we never failed to meet our targets anyway. 

In addition to Jimin's distracting ways, Taehyung was a sponge for attention. Just like now, he couldn't bare to be left to himself. The moment Jungkook wandered around the wagon to accompany Jimin, Taehyung stuck himself to the next closest person, which in this case happened to be me. Often in camp it was me as well, and he would either watch me work while yammering away about this or that, or he would demand my full attention and request I go riding with him. But, after a long day slaving over pelts and trinkets, a ride was a very attractive idea. It was a shame Frost was so cold towards Luna, because poor Luna didn't like leaving the herd if her only company was the little grey devil that loved to bully her.

Despite joking about Jimin and Jungkook’s close relationship, I felt that Taehyung and I had gotten close over the years as well. It was probably due to his demanding personality, but it wasn’t something I disliked. I had always thought I’d feel the closest to Namjoon because our personalities suited each other and I’d known him the longest. Namjoon was big on keeping to himself, though, and Taehyung… was not. It made me feel like I could really open up with him, which was a rare thing to have when you were no longer in contact with any of your family. To me now, the posse was my family, and Taehyung was a like the demanding little brother I never had.

We trotted along the road that would eventually swing north towards Bacchus Station and pass Fort Wallace. Amongst musing about what part of a traditional family each of the posse members would represent to me, I completely missed what Taehyung said next. I hummed questioningly at him, looking over, and suddenly I realised I really should have been paying attention. We all ducked in synch as bullets began to fly. I cursed and scrambled for my revolver, thinking I’d jinxed myself earlier in considering myself lucky we didn’t get into gunfights that often. 

Bandits, I assumed, when the menacing shouts registered on a conscious level as near-unintelligible threats. “I’m gonna be the one to put you in yer grave!” one called. Some were on horseback, but most rushed out of the woodlands to our right on foot, firing at us and barely missing. We had been strategically pinned against a sheer hillside , and there was nowhere to go to escape. Tilly shook the cart with her spooked movements, and I attempted to keep her on the road. Moving through the ambush seemed like a good idea, but I couldn’t stand by while the others were shot at. 

It was comforting to have the skilled aim of Yoongi, Taehyung, and Jimin taking out our attackers one after the other, and it gave me the confidence to steady my aim and hit my mark. Even with gunfire deafeningly close to my ears, I could hear Yoongi shouting directions and warnings to the young ones. I didn’t have time to worry about Jimin as Luna suddenly decided it was all too much and threw him off her back. She whirled away from the fight and made for the hills, but still, until we weren’t under fire, I didn’t let it bother me. Jimin was just as useful on foot, mowing down every bandit that charged him with a slug from his pump-action shotgun. 

It was over surprisingly quickly, and soon the only sounds were the horses nickering, stomping, and squealing in distress. Tilly calmed quickly, and Mateo seemed not to have gotten upset at all, pawing the ground as though ready for another round. When I was sure we were safe, I looked around to see if I should get off the wagon to go find my horse. Looking in the direction she had run off, I was surprised to see Jungkook leading her back towards us. She looked happy now, ears picked up as she and Denali walked around the hill together. I hadn’t processed many of the shouts I’d heard during the firefight, my heart thudding too loudly in my ears, but as adrenaline eventually let my pulse slow again, I managed to tune into the exchange. 

“Can it wait until we get clear of this?” Namjoon said, and I looked over to see him standing beside Jimin, head bent to the side obscuring whatever he was looking analyzing. Jimin half-shrugged, and as he turned to the side a little more, facing me, I noticed a dark, seeping patch below his shoulder. His red shirt hid it well, but I knew a bullet wound when I saw one. As usual, he was acting tough, not showing how much it hurt.

“Jimin, get over here and let me patch you up,” I grumbled, a little pissed off that he’d try to get away with continuing the journey like that.

“Fine,” he said in an exasperated tone, and trudged over to the wagon. 

We continued the journey at a walk, having quickly looted the bandits for any valuables and all of their spare ammunition. Jungkook rode Denali beside Tilly to steer her. Jimin and I sat on the wagon, my steady hands but not so steady surgery tools reminding everyone how not-tough Jimin was when it came to injuries. Luckily for him, the sun was high in the sky, so his bare torso wasn’t going to completely freeze. He braced against the timber backrest and groaned with every movement I made. He’d been unlucky enough to take a shot from the highest-powered gun the vermin had been carrying. As I finally slid the bullet free and got a look at it, it appeared to be a high velocity round form a Lancaster Repeater. Nothing that was going to go in one side of his chest and out the other, or blow his arm off, but it buried itself deeper than a pistol round. 

Jungkook glanced back for about the fiftieth time, concern wrinkling his brow, and I met his eyes, waving the bullet a little to show him it was all done; he could stop panicking. 

“Better?” I asked, showing Jimin him the pointy, bloody metal I held in my forceps. With a heavy sigh, he nodded.

“Much better.” He leant over the bench towards the ground as he poured straight moonshine over the wound, washing blood all down himself to drip to the ground. His muscles shuddered from the cold now, but he didn’t complain, passing me the ‘shine to wash my forceps and tweezers. He reached with his good arm into the back of the wagon to grab the bandage, needle, fishing line, and ointment I’d dug out of my medical supplies for him and handed them to me.

“Do you think you could try a little harder not to get shot next time?” I asked, trying not to press too hard while rubbing thick, yellowish cream into the gaping flesh. The timber protested in his grip, but I was done quickly. He managed to stay quiet while I sutured him up as well, five neat stitches now decorating his chest. I finished by rolling the strip of white canvas around him from waist to opposite shoulder, and crossing it under his arm a few times to help it stay put.

“Do you think you could teach yer horse not to come unwound at a couple of pistol shots?” He snapped, and I pursed my lips, a small frown growing. 

“You didn’t have to ride her.”

Jimin was shivering more now, muscles tensed everywhere so his voice shook, and I tied his bandage off at his middle, above a belly you could just about grate cheese on. 

“Yer right,” he accepted, and he moved his arm a little, shoulder stiff and seemingly aching now. “Thanks for the lend of her.”

We decided it would be better to let Jimin drive again now, and I climbed back on Luna after giving her a kiss to her muzzle. Jungkook climbed up onto the wagon beside Jimin to help him put his shirt and coat back on.

As we finally began to resume normal travel, we passed a three-way intersection. Continuing ahead would have taken us to Fort Wallace, as indicated by the signpost, so we swung north here, the afternoon beginning to cool down again and reminding us to quicken our pace. We could make it to the farm a while after nightfall if all went well.

Hardly half a mile past the crossroads at the Ambarino state line, four soldiers stood behind a temporary blockade. The sight was unusual, and it made my stomach clench. What were they looking to find holding travellers up here? Namjoon’s moonshine still was well-hidden in our wagon, but it wouldn’t take much for them to find it if that’s what they were looking for. I met the moonshiner’s eyes and saw the same level of anxiety I felt. We put on polite smiles for the guards as they asked us to stop, and I noticed they were soldiers from Fort Wallace.

“Afternoon, gentlemen,” I said as two approached us, walking almost as though marching, foreign rifles flashing in the sunlight as they came up to the side of the wagon. Jimin dared not give away his injury, and greeted them in a similar way with a smile and a tip of his hat.

“A fine afternoon to you too, sirs. This is a government taxation zone, we’re going to have to request a fee for passing into Ambarino.”

“A fee?” Namjoon said then, and the guard by Tilly nodded.

“That’s right sir.” Their accents weren’t as thick as the usual folk we encountered in towns and on the road. They were disciplined, exceptionally presented, and even clean-shaven. 

“Unless you’re citizens of Ambarino, of course.” By the way the guard by Jimin’s seat said it, it was clear he assumed we weren’t. He was right: we weren’t citizens of anywhere. It was an uncomfortable topic, and I could tell we were all scrambling for a way to bypass this situation peacefully, and without any more prying. 

“We’re not, and we’re happy to pay, Sergeant,” Namjoon said, having subtly glanced at the soldier’s insignia. 

“Glad to hear it, sir.”

I dismounted De la Luna and went to the back of the wagon to fetch our smaller stash of money; the one we pretended was all we had in situations like this. Namjoon took a few large notes from me and happily handed them over, a big smile on his face as he shook the officer’s hand. I hardly breathed while we passed the blockade, and I wondered if the other five were as disquieted when the law was involved, especially the military.

We moved a little more quickly then, even cantering some of the way, and we didn’t exchange words until after sundown. I figured I was right in assuming the whole posse was shaken. Jungkook and Jimin whispered to each other up on the wagon, but apart from that, there was only the thudding of hooves and the voice of the woods. 

Namjoon warned us we were close as we passed through Calumet Ravine, the reservation where native Wapiti people lived. He directed Yoongi and Taehyung to scout ahead and make sure the farm was vacant and safe. At Cotorra Springs we stopped to give the horses a short water and feed before the final leg. It wasn’t far, but it would give the hunters time to return to us with good news. Tilly was ragged, but she would be able to take us the rest of the way after a break. 

Geysers shot up from the springs to the south of the road, and the resting horses snorted stressfully, but otherwise were too tired to spook. We each had long drinks and mumbled about the cold, and after around ten minutes, Mateo and Frost galloped their riders back down the road at us. It had begun to rain lightly by then, so I was thrilled to hear the place was empty. We remounted and finished the last leg of our journey in much higher spirits than earlier.

The night was bitterly cold with rain to add to the far-north temperatures. We bustled around in the courtyard of the quaint-looking farm getting the horses set up for the evening in the barn and yards and finding our bedrolls and food. Yoongi tethered Mateo and Ezekiel in a small shed by the entrance with feed and water, and the mares were locked in a huge barn. The other buildings were small for houses, but at this time of day and after the two days we had, we would likely have passed out in the courtyard without complaint.

“Get some fires going, Seokjin and Jungkook,” Namjoon said in his ever-friendly way, and we leapt to his command, each going to one of the two houses. Yoongi helped Jungkook collect logs and twigs, and Taehyung came with me to do the same. In the main house we quickly cleared a path in the leaf litter and broken glass to the fireplace, and Taehyung made a sound of glee at the presence of a couch by the fire.

“I haven’t sat in one of these in as long as I can remember,” he said, sinking down gleefully.

I stacked logs in the fireplace with a hum of recognition. “We can probably all stay in here tonight.”

“I will see how many beds there are...” He got up after a few moments and made for the room on the left of the fireplace. “One in here, and…” He passed behind me, footsteps quick and excited. On the right of the fireplace were 2 more rooms, and he opened the one on the same wall as the fireplace and the other room. “Four in here!”

I finally got a spark to start in the kindling, and I blew it gently, bringing it to life. “That’s good,” I said, knowing there would be beds in the other house as well. As the fire grew, Taehyung gravitated towards it and stood beside me holding his gloved hands out, fingers wiggling in front of its warmth.

“I’m starved,” he said after a moment of silence, enjoying the heat. “Are we cooking tonight?” I wondered if he meant  _ am I cooking tonight _ _,_ but I didn’t bother questioning it.

“I will make us a meal. We need it for our strength after the journey.” I glanced at him just in time to see his face light up, and I smirked as I stood to make for the wagon outside, shaking my head at his childish delight. Smoke drifted lightly from the chimney of the smaller house, and Jungkook and Yoongi emerged one after the other to saunter in this direction as well. Namjoon and one-armed Jimin had unpacked the essentials for the night, so it was easy for us to load most of it into the larger house. The six of us gathered inside, and I had Jungkook help me cut up vegetables and some salted meat for a stew. Namjoon helped Jimin out of his coat and shirt by the fire to replace his bandage, and Yoongi sat with his boots propped up at the other end of the table we worked on. Taehyung busily tidied, clearing old rubbish and gently wiping at dust and dirt that had accumulated. Clearly others had lived here recently, so it wasn’t entirely filthy. 

Once our food was boiling away by the fire I noticed the place looking much neater, and Taehyung made himself busy sweeping gently so not to stir up too much dust. Looking at Yoongi then, I smiled noticing he’d fallen fast asleep, head tipped back almost painfully, mouth wide open, and blond hair haloing around his head. His arms crossed over his chest moved slightly with his breathing, and he didn’t look like waking any time soon. Jungkook stirred the stew absently, not even looking at it. As usual, he was looking at Jimin instead, who was, unsurprisingly, looking back at him. I didn’t watch them for long enough to find out what that was about. They could probably communicate silently at this point.

As soon as it was time to eat, Yoongi was mysteriously awake. We each found a place to recline; Jimin on the couch he’d been patched up in, Jungkook between his legs on the floor, Namjoon on a wooden stump beside Jimin, Yoongi unmoved from his chair by the table, and Taehyung and I sitting on a fur rug close to the fire. Too hot to tuck into straight away, we chatted quietly over the crackle of the fire and the patter of rain on the tiled roof.

“So how did Hoseok know that this place was going to be empty by the time we got here?” Jimin asked, swishing his spoon around in the air as though to emphasise his words.

Namjoon, sitting directly beside him, couldn’t wait for the food to cool and was slurping it from the spoon and making a face like it was burning his tongue. “He just said he thought it would be an option for us,” he said after swallowing. “We’re just lucky we made it before any other squatters did.”

“We need to be vigilant and defend it if we do want to stay here for the winter, though,” I chipped in. “I’ve never noticed it to be vacant before, so I reckon we’ll have some competition in the coming months.”

Taehyung, finally tucking into his stew, nodded in response. “We should stay in groups and never leave this place undefended.”

Yoongi didn’t look up from his food to add his sassy remark. “Always stating the obvious, aren’t we Taehyung?”

“Be nice,” Namjoon scolded with a mouthful. “You’re right, Tae. We don’t need to work so hard over winter since we saved a lot, so we only need to venture out occasionally.”

As usual, Yoongi was entirely unaffected by being reprimanded, and he moved onto the next topic without a hitch. “Who is sleeping where?”

“There’s only one bed in the other house,” Jungkook said in response, pointing vaguely behind himself and jabbing Jimin in the thigh unintentionally. The elder didn’t react, too busy with his food.

“You two snappers can sleep in there,” Namjoon said over his last mouthful, beckoning with his elbow towards Jimin, and as usual he looked utterly content from his meal. 

"Can I sleep in that room?" Yoongi asked, pointing to the room on the left that had only one bed, as opposed to the one on the right that had four.

Namjoon nodded as he stood to collect bowls. I wondered if he was as afraid of Yoongi as I sometimes was. 

~~~~~~~~~~

OuO

I have come bearing images from in game that will give you a nice idea of what their little hideout looks like!

**[Entrance](https://i.imgur.com/tgX7ZZa.png), [Cabin](https://i.imgur.com/P2bDLev.jpg) **(outside), **[Cabin](https://i.imgur.com/Cd9I4af.jpg) **(inside), **[Cabin](https://i.imgur.com/AcUCJTX.jpg) **(inside), [**House**](https://i.imgur.com/Pi9sl06.png) (outside), [**Barn**](https://i.imgur.com/BPC82ED.jpg) (inside), [**Living Room**](https://i.imgur.com/pGpt7P5.png), [**Living Room from fire**](https://i.imgur.com/i9gyQzN.png), [**Bedroom 1**](https://i.imgur.com/ywirYtg.png), **[Bedroom 2](https://i.imgur.com/gV0d8U1.png)**, [**Moonshine room**](https://i.imgur.com/67ohH3W.png)!

And this is beautiful [**Cotorra Springs!**](https://i.imgur.com/m9LIQyy.png)


	8. Cleanliness and Comfort

_Chapter Glossary:_

**Credentials:** male genitalia 

**Ischial spine:** (of the pelvis) the bone that attaches the wing of the pelvis to the wing on the other side. It’s the bone that makes that lovely line circled in the image > [ HERE ](https://i.imgur.com/GKjTRIc.jpg)< (usually called hip bone I guess)

 **Widowmaker:** a horse that is so dangerous it could kill you.

~~~~~~~~~~

_Jimin's POV_

Our new location felt too good to be true. It was cold, sure, but it was a whole estate for us to share. Two warm buildings with all of the amenities I'd missed living outdoors, a huge barn for the mares, a watch tower behind a garden of useful herbs, and all in a quiet, secluded location on a wooded mountainside. And, after a hot meal I didn't expect Seokjin to make us, Jungkook and I were assigned one of the cabins all to ourselves. No having to whisper so lowly that Yoongi wouldn't throw his boots at us. I wouldn't put it past him to do that even while I'm injured. 

I'd been shot enough to know that this one was a lucky one. Arms, legs, upper chest, and I was fine to grit my teeth and bear it. The only time I'd been badly wounded by a bullet was a very near miss; a revolver round lodged in the right ischial spine of my pelvis. Seokjin had opted to take me to a hospital for that one, and lucky he did. It healed perfectly, but the nurse bashfully explained that a smidge to the left and I'd have damaged some vital organ of the reproductive variety. 

Still in my coat, it was comfortably toasty in front of the fire, especially with the soft couch to keep my back warm and Jungkook's body heat against my legs. With a full stomach and two days of stressful travelling catching up with me, I could have fallen asleep right there. 

"For your shoulder," Seokjin said, making my eyes blink open to see a steaming cup held in front of my face. 

"Oh, thanks," I said with surprise, taking it. "You didn't have to."

"You want to sleep tonight, don't you?" he said with a knowing twist of his head before wandering towards the room full of beds.

"Doesn't it hurt?" Jungkook asked, head tipping back but not quite looking at me. 

"Not when I'm sitting still. When I get up it might."

The back of Jungkook's head rested on my thigh and he sighed deeply before rocking forward to get to his feet. "I'll help you," he said, turning and offering me his hand. I put my tea down on the makeshift table Namjoon had been sitting on and took his hand. I stood slowly, trying not to use my muscles on the opposite side at all and unfortunately failing. Stabbing, searing pain sparked from the wound down my back and all through me. There was nothing worse than sleeping in this state, so I was thankful for Jin's thoughtfulness. Jungkook winced right along with me, and it made me chuckle slightly through my pain. 

"You're acting like it's you who was shot."

He pouted. "I don't like seeing you hurt."

After humming a few goodnights to the others, he picked up the still-steaming tea and carried it behind me as we wandered into the cold. The mares peeked through the barn windows as we trekked across the slippery mud, heavy rain now making puddles in our footprints. In the next building, Jungkook handed me the cup and bustled around to make the place comfortable. He dusted out blankets and pillows, brought our bags to the beds, and moved a chair in front of the fire—which was in the stove for lack of a fireplace—for me to sit on. All the while he mused about the rain and when it would finally snow.

“I could do without snow for a while yet,” I grumbled, sliding gently into the chair and kicking my boots off to warm my toes. Jungkook stopped beside me finally and let out another big sigh while leaning back against the square two-person dining table. I sipped at the tea and tried not to shudder at the strong taste and pungent smell. Better to get it over with, I thought as I chugged the whole thing in one go. It scolded its way down my throat and spread warmth through me. It wasn’t as toasty in here as the other house, but it was a blessing compared to being outside in the rain.

I reached back to place my hat on the table behind us and figured I should make an effort to get some sleep, as delightful as it was to be only feet from the waves of heat radiating from the cast iron stove. Jungkook seemed to think the same thing, and I heard him shuffle around behind me for a while until I could be bothered rising to my feet. He plonked down onto his back on the left of the bed in just his sleeveless top and trousers over black woolen thermal underwear, pulling a heavy woolen rug over himself. He’d kindly laid my blanket and furs out beside him, and I smirked as I wandered over to the right side.

“I don’t remember you nursing me like this the last time I was shot,” I said, only grunting slightly in pain as I laid myself beside him. My back screamed with stiffness for a moment, and then relaxed gratefully into the softness. It wasn’t a high quality bed, but it was leagues better than a bedroll on the ground. Warmer as well. Jungkook fussed over me, pulling the blanket up on my left where I struggled a little, the furs too heavy to move easily. I just grinned, feeling giddy at being pampered. 

“Last time it was just yer hand. And I helped, didn’t I?”

My brow rose on one side as I turned my face to his, and the damp hair of his forehead brushed mine for a moment until he leant back to his side. “Maybe. I forget now.”

“Does it still hurt?” He laid his head down, facing me as he got comfortable on his side. 

I hummed in confirmation, wondering if he expected Jin’s remedy to work immediately. Thinking that made me realise he hadn’t been badly injured before since I’d known him and as such hadn’t needed to choke down a ginseng and yarrow brew.

Warm and comfortable now, I felt sleep begin to creep up on me. Jungkook’s blinking became heavy as well until he didn’t bother opening his eyes again. Even with the ache that hadn’t completely dimmed, I was quickly lulled to sleep by Jungkook’s soft, rhythmic breathing.

At first light, I woke feeling groggy but warm and comfortable. It had been a very long time since I’d been this comfortable. I wasn’t quite as warm as last night, but rather than the weather changing, I realised it was because Jungkook wasn’t beside me. Before I had a chance to move to look around, the door swung open letting in a streak of bright sunlight and a wave of freezing wind. 

“You let me get cold,” I whined, my voice croaky.

"I had to piss," he said back, sounding more awake than myself. "Did you sleep all right?"

"Better than all right, I don't even think I can move I'm that comfortable."

Jungkook shut the door and came to his side of the bed, a look of mischief on his youthful face, and I was too slow in reacting to stop him. 

"What if I did _this_ _,_ " he goaded as he leant over the bed and managed to press exactly on my bladder through my fur coverings. My knees snapped up, a pained _'_ _ack_ _'_ sound coming from the back of my throat as the urge to relieve myself was suddenly all I could feel. He chuckled to himself as I rolled out of bed and stumbled out into the morning sun.

There wasn't too much activity out here yet, but Yoongi was brushing Mateo down in the tiny shed the stallions had sheltered in last night. Yoongi looked wide awake, as much as he ever did, and nothing had changed from last night. I realised he must have stayed up to keep guard, which meant he was due to sleep for half of the day now. I almost envied him. While standing on frosty grass in bare feet hurrying to finish peeing, I felt like going back to bed was the only thing in the world I wanted right then.

I made it back inside without my junk freezing off and rushed to get my coat and boots on. Jungkook sat on the bed with his blanket wrapped around his shoulders, his hair still dishevelled from sleep. 

"Did you see Namjoon yet this morning?" I asked, attempting to light the fire with a bow drill for the stove.

"No, I didn't see anyone except Yoongi yet…. Here, let me do that." He got up as he said it, and I realised with the frustrating return of sharp pain in my shoulder that I couldn't do much with two hands at all. "You won't heal if you don't rest it," he scolded, and it made me sigh.

"I know, I know." I hadn't watched him light a fire before that I recalled, and it reminded me of watching Jin. He didn't waste a single movement. Where I'd have slipped a few times and probably spent several minutes struggling, he had embers in about three seconds, and he poured them straight onto the tinder in the stove. "My god, you have gotten good at that."

He gave me a confused look, a small smile on his lips. "I do this every single day, Jimin."

"I used to do it every day. Still can't do it that fast." The fire caught onto the logs, and I shuffled closer to enjoy its warmth. 

My hands began to regain feeling as I flipped them back and forth to warm both sides, and the ache in my chest reminded me that I should probably get my bandage changed soon. That thought disappeared when Jungkook's hand brushed mine. I glanced at him, immediately assuming he wanted my attention, but he was gazing innocently into the fire, and I looked over at his slender, youthful hands held so close to mine near the flickering blaze. It could have been an accident, but I suddenly couldn't get my mind off the feeling of his skin. 

Two quick thuds on the door to our cabin made me jump, and I grunted in pain from what it did to my wound. Jungkook stood up like lightning and suddenly fussed over me, helping me stand while Namjoon barked at us through the door.

"Come get your breakfast or forever hold your peace!"

Back in the larger house together, we ate bread and butter with some honey Jin had found in the house. Taehyung was chewing absently on some dried meat while reading a book by the fire, but I was happy with the surprisingly soft loaf and sweet topping. I watched Jungkook’s brother march past me into his room, and then appear again a moment later with some horse care tools in his hands.

“Yoongi, get some sleep soon, won’t you? We’ll look after the horses,” Seokjin said, his voice almost a whine.

Yoongi looked at him as though to lash back, but suddenly seemed to notice how tired he was and decided against it. Wordlessly, which wasn’t unusual for him, he put the tools down and headed back to his solo room, the door swinging shut behind him. 

“Now. Your shoulder, Jimin. Did you sleep well?” Seokjin came to the side of the chair I was sitting on and began peeling my coat away, which I would have protested against if I weren’t directly beside a fire, and if it weren’t Jin. 

“Like a log,” Jungkook said, mouth stuffed with buttered crust. He wasn’t wrong.

“I’ll make you more of the tonic,” he mumbled almost as though to remind himself, and eased my checkered shirt off with the usual practiced gentleness. “It needs cleaning, I think. You just need a bath.”

My eyes tilted up to him, brow creased to show him how annoying his mothering was. I swallowed and grumbled: “Do you see a bath around here?”

“You can practically see the Dakota River from here. Just go wash off, then I’ll put more ointment on it and we can get you bandaged up.”

I couldn’t imagine anything worse than wading into near-frozen water in my birthday suit, but it wasn’t such a bad idea. I couldn't recall the last time I’d bathed. 

“I’ll take him,” Jungkook offered. Jin nodded, thankfully not prodding around the tender flesh much before helping me back into my coat. I left my shot and bled-on shirt with him to stitch back up, and then Jungkook and I made for the door to leave. 

The sun had melted the frost by the time we were outside again. Namjoon let the mares into the yard and took the stallions into the barn for now until Yoongi was awake to keep an eye on them. Tilly immediately found a puddle of mud to roll in. I blocked it from my mind, turning away to begin the trek to the river. I’d deal with her later. 

At the T-intersection of the main road, we paused, looking down the mountain towards the Dakota. Jungkook said exactly what I was thinking. “I don’t think there’s an easy way down; we’d have to go all the way around the cliff.”

I looked back the way we’d come in the night before, and then it dawned on me: Cotorra Springs. “Why not take a dip in the hot springs?” I suggested. Jungkook’s face lit up as he took a breath in; he hadn’t thought of that either.

“The springs! Of course.” He patted my back as we began walking, and suddenly my freezing fingers and toes seemed more bearable. They’d be warm soon.

As the geysers came into view, I marvelled at the warmth flowing through the air even the better part of a mile away still. It became warmer the closer we got, promising cleanliness and comfort at the same time. The closest pool was good enough for me, and as we approached it I exclaimed at the hot air surrounding us. I couldn’t be immersed quickly enough; I kicked off my boots and tried not to rush too much as Jungkook helped me out of my coat, exposing my top half to the outdoors. It wasn’t quite as warm now, even with steam rising all around me.

Jungkook rolled the legs of his trousers up to his knees while I hurried to slip out of mine, and I hissed at the ache of putting frozen feet into hot water. It didn’t slow me down; I sank into the clear, steaming pool until I was up to my chest in delicious warmth. I hesitated going any deeper, knowing it would hurt a lot. Jungkook sat with his legs in the water beside me. Scrubbing crusted blood from my skin was almost as therapeutic as the hot water. Feeling came back to my extremities, and it actually made my wound hurt more. I looked down at it, gritting my teeth for a moment before I dared to splash some hot water over it. It seared and stung and pulled a groan of pain from my throat.

"Submerge it," Jungkook said, making me look up at him, and I noticed his expression reflect my pain. "Just soak it for a while."

I didn't want to show him quite how afraid I was to do that, so I did, dipping into the water until it was at the base of my neck. I hadn't a second to appreciate the pleasurable heat spreading across my skin, because the stinging was back with a vengeance, shooting spikes of pain outward and making my breath hitch. My head tipped down, forehead making a thud against Jungkook's knee, half to hide the agony on my face and half to smack my head against something hard in a desperate attempt to dull the bullet wound's screaming pain. 

Red seeped into the water as the dried blood dissolved and more began to leak from the still-fresh wound. Seokjin always left a little of a stitched wound open to allow it to drain. The pain eased up eventually, but just when I felt like I could finally relax, we heard hoofbeats turn off the path and approach. The sound changed from the patter of dirt to a clip-clop on rock, and we both turned to see who it was, Jungkook moving his hand to his holster. 

We relaxed suddenly seeing Lady's long feathered legs and broad chest, a friendly and slightly mischievous grin on her rider's face. "Now what do we have here?" Hoseok asked, joking suspicion in his voice. I inched back from Jungkook a little, realising how it must have looked a moment ago to a passerby.

"Jimin was shot yesterday," Jungkook said, a slightly worried tone making me follow up quickly. 

"But I'm fine."

Hoseok's expression changed into slight surprise, but he didn't look overly concerned. His eyes dipped until he spotted my wound, and it made me almost tempted to cover my nakedness as well. 

"Ah, not a bad one I hope?" He asked, looking me in the eyes again. I shook my head and smiled slightly. 

"It'll be right in a week or so."

"Good to hear. So I figure you lot made it to the farm just fine?" Lady pawed the sulfurous ground by the pool, sniffing at it and then stepping forward to sniff at Jungkook’s hair. He stroked her nose, smiling automatically in the way anyone would with her massive head inquisitively nuzzling them. 

“We had a few obstacles, but we made it. I should thank you, really: it’s luxurious.”

Hoseok laughed, a genuine tinkling kind of laugh that was joyful and infectious. It made me smile as well, even if I wasn’t sure what amused him so much. “Luxurious,” he repeated, his nose crinkling for a moment as his eyes squeezed shut. “One day I’ll show you luxury. Where you can bathe indoors instead of showing the wildlife your credentials.”

I blazed, dreading the thought that through this sparklingly clear water he could actually see. It was very different with Jungkook who’d seen me naked a million times. Hoseok was more of a stranger, and his brazen joking made me want to cover myself. Maybe he realised my embarrassment, because Lady lifted her head at his pose changing in the saddle as he made to leave. 

“Well, I’m going to pay that widowmaker colt a visit,” he said, and Lady turned her huge behind to face us as she walked back the way they’d come. “Have a nice bath!” he said with a slight flick of his hand in the air.

We each waved in synch at his turned back and then glanced at each other, and I noticed Jungkook’s cheeks were coloured as well. Recently I’d noticed he didn’t always turn away after a normal amount of eye-contact, and it made me challenge his threshold a little longer every time it happened. Last night I’d noticed him with his eyes on me while Namjoon re-bandaged my wound, and his had gaze snapped to mine as soon as I’d caught him. He gave up first then, making no effort to communicate anything, and it was the same today. His dark eyes held mine, searching maybe, or just absently staring. It made the warmth under my skin linger a little longer, like this morning’s brush of his hand against mine. As Jungkook turned his head away, I swallowed thickly and tried to focus on something other than the muddled feelings that fluttered in my belly. 

Despite how much I didn’t want to, I climbed out of the spring and shimmied into my trousers, and Jungkook stood as well without hesitation in case I needed help. He came close and inspected my stitches. 

"We better get that covered," he said, worry all over his soft features, and he helped me into my coat before leading the way back to camp. I missed the carefree Jungkook of a few days ago before I was injured, and watching him trudging in front of me all the way back to our winter home made me hope he would return to normal as soon as I was healed. 

The rest of the day was spent lounging around the larger cabin on strict orders to rest. Only when Jungkook and Jin went out for a small hunting trip did I manage to sneak out to brush my mud-caked mare. In my stitched up shirt and fur-lined coat, I was just warm enough outside as long as I kept active, and finding Tilly under all of her decoration kept me thoroughly cozy. Denali and Voltaire rested in the sun beside us while I scraped at the last of Tilly's muddy tail, and just to keep warm, I gave them a brush as well. 

In the centre of the little farm, Hoseok trotted the black stallion in small circles, hands holding the reins open wide and his inside leg encouraging his mount to bend. I loved watching that man ride. It was like a dance. The horses went from stressed, aloof, confused babies to confident, strong, reliable horses in what seemed like too short a time. I doubted there was a single horse he couldn't break. I recognised Yoongi's saddle and bridle after a while and wondered if Hoseok had permission to use them; very little of Yoongi's was ever borrowed by anyone, because we were all kind of scared of him. Watching the pair work, though, it seemed Ezekiel and Mateo had similar body shapes, because the tack fit him well. 

If Hoseok had planned to finish with Mateo's gear before Yoongi woke up, his plan had just been foiled. The blond swaggered out from behind the larger house, tying up his trousers. Looking sleepy still, he squinted at Hoseok and the stallion for a few moments before glancing over at me. 

"Sleep well?" I asked, and he shrugged, stretching his back a little.

"Fine, thanks. How's your shoulder?" He passed me to head for the barn, hand stroking along Denali's soft golden coat on the way. 

"Fucking aches," I complained, but it made him smile. He'd been shot enough to know exactly what I was going through. 

"Keep up the health cure," he advised as he pushed into the barn towards his stallion, and I hummed with agreement. Jin's brews were the only thing that pulled me through wounds like these. I finished detangling Denali's tail and placed the brush on a fencepost, which I then leant against to watch Hoseok work his magic. 

Sweating a little, Ezekiel grunted with each stride, looking perfectly focused on his rider. His movements were even and seemed to be exactly what Hoseok asked for. He had his head low to the ground as he moved at a fast trot, turning left and right and doing small and large circles in the limited space. When Hoseok sat back and lowered the reins, the colt responded immediately, slowing to an active walk and keeping his ears turned to listen to cues. I wished I could be half the horseman Hoseok was. 

While watching him ask for a few strides of reverse, I noticed Yoongi in the barn leaning against the frame of the large window on the left, staring with his usual expressionless mask at the horse and rider. It made my brow spike for a second to see him interested in anything at all. Likely he was just as enthralled as I was at watching the master at work, especially since this horse had been notoriously insurgent only weeks ago. 

I was too distracted watching Hoseok and his jet black colt work on mounting and dismounting to notice that Jungkook and Seokjin were returning, the latter leading Luna with a pack full of carcasses. It was always a surprise to see such a good haul on the first trip in a new location, but I don't have time to appreciate it before I was being mothered by Jin.

 _What are you doing out here yadda yadda_ he scolded, and I sauntered inside to plonk down on the couch and spend the rest of the evening, if not week, bored out of my brains. 

~~~~~~~~~~

I love this chapter gif, it's Hoseok riding Zeek! And since he is using Yoongi's saddle, you can see his legs are too long for the stirrups, they they just dangle by Zeek's sides hahahaha


	9. Loose Hips and Soft Hands

PLZ excuse enormous 14mb gif, I just needed it (is Hoseok on Ezekiel just south of the farm _~~imagine he has slightly longer hair~~_ )  


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_ Chapter Glossary: _

**Coldblood:** a heavy/draught type horse.

** Drinky: ** tipsy.

** Lacing: ** beating

** Smutch: ** blacken, with soot or some kind of dye.

_ Yoongi's POV  _

Sleeping in a bed during the day wasn't quite as effortless as I expected, even after standing sentry all night following a two-day journey north. It was too bright, too noisy, and it smelt like the previous occupants. One thing about being indoors that I wasn't sure I'd ever get used to again was the absence of a breeze and the fresh air it offered. Even when cold, I preferred it. I woke after tossing and turning for a while, maybe sleeping four or five hours, and got out of bed to spend the day with my horse. 

Mateo had gotten quite attached to his mares lately, and I wanted to remind him that it was okay to leave them at times so he didn't become too closely bonded and dependent. Going for a ride in this relatively new area would be interesting enough for him that he shouldn't be too concerned about being on his own. 

After taking a leak I wandered around the back of the house towards the barn, and trotting hoofbeats got my attention. With his back to me, and clad in clothing I didn't recognise, Hoseok could have been anyone for a moment. I froze and stared, wondering for a split second who else could be riding Zeek. A fitted, expensive jacket showed off Hoseok's athletic figure and emphasised his perfect riding posture. Before my jaw could literally drop in surprise at seeing him here, I headed for the barn.

A few pleasantries was all I could manage with Jimin before hiding away in the dark stables. Mateo nickered at me in greeting. I lifted the makeshift gate to swing it open enough to enter his stall and set to work tidying his coat and cleaning mud and stones from his hooves. This kind of tedious labour was usually good for clearing my mind, but instead it left my thoughts wide open to be filled with the horse and rider in the courtyard. Mateo begged some carrots out of me, and he munched noisily on them while I found myself gazing out the window, in awe of the harmony between man and beast where there used to be such discord. 

It took quite a while for me to realise the black colt was wearing Mateo's tack. Hoseok must have borrowed it. Until now he'd been training with just a rope headstall and no saddle at all. Thinking about Mateo as having as broad a back as Ezekiel was quite funny considering he was noticeably smaller in height. His massive strong shoulders were what made his saddle size so large, and I shook my head at how well it fit the coldblood under Hoseok. Granted, the Gray-bred colt had a lot more growing to do. 

With the carrots polished off, Mateo nudged my back and side as an attempt to get more out of me.

"Sorry pal, time to get out of here for a while." I found a leather halter in our horse crate and attached some rope as reins so not to worry about taking my tack back from Hoseok just yet. The sooner Zeek was ready to sell, the sooner we got paid. I hopped up onto Mateo, belly first and then dragging my leg over his rump. 

"Eugh, that's more difficult than I remember," I mumbled at him, having not mounted bareback in quite a long time. With a tap of my spurs we were trotting out of the barn, and I hoped we could slip unnoticed behind the house and out to the north.

No such luck. "Oh, Yoongi!" Hoseok called, and Ezekiel slid to an abrupt stop with hardly a noticeable cue from his rider. "Where are you going? You can take this, I'm finished," he said, beckoning to the saddle.

I halted Mateo and twisted to face them. "Don't worry about it, we're just going to explore a while." 

He looked downright horrified for some reason, as though I was upset or pissed at him, but I didn't really give a damn. I went to leave so to show him how little I minded. 

"Well-!" he said suddenly, and he turned Zeek and walked him over to us. "Could we come?" 

The stallions sniffed and grunted at each other. They'd become friends in the time we'd had then stabled beside each other, even though Mateo was very much still the boss of him. He was too well trained to act like a maniac protecting his mares, so they got along like real gentlemen. It almost made it sad to be selling the black colt soon. 

"Sure," I said automatically. At least it wouldn't ruin my plans to separate Mateo from the girls for a while. We plodded side by side out of the courtyard into the woods. Feeling Mateo's muscles moving under me was a nostalgic reminder of more carefree days on horseback. 

"I hope you don't mind my using yer gear; Namjoon thought you'd be out for the rest of the day." 

This concerned empathy was an odd colour on him. Usually so confident, he made me feel like I'd said or done something to make him cautious. 

"Couldn't sleep," I said simply with a sigh, and I looked down as Mateo picked his way around a fallen spruce log. 

Hoseok calmly sat astride the stolen stallion as though the beast was as calm and confident as Mateo, but he was nothing of the sort. He was stopping and starting, chomping on the bit, spooking at wildlife, and constantly attempting to break into a trot. Hoseok just let him be, acting as the chilled-out and confident leader he needed to be for the young horse underneath him. I hadn't forgotten what Mateo was like at the same age. We made each other anxious while learning to work together, and it took years to get to where we are today. Zeek was concerned and jumpy, but he wasn't anxious. 

“Doesn’t Jin have some tonic for when you can’t sleep?” he asked. He was giving his mount a gentle scratch on the withers, and it seemed to help calm him. Zeek sighed and started to walk with a little less spring in his step.

“None that aren’t either addictive or useless on me.”

“You’ll sleep well tonight then,” he said, his voice fading as he turned his head away to see what his horse was currently pricking his ears at. “A grizzly,” he observed, voice a little unsteady, and I looked over to see the great brown bear, thick fur ruffled by wind and huge paws digging at something on the forest floor. Mateo stiffened all down his back and through his neck and shoulders, but he was obedient enough not to react immediately.

“Just give her a wide berth,” I assured him in a quiet voice, and we steered the stallions away a little. Either she didn’t notice or didn’t care, because we passed her less than a hundred feet away without interrupting her busy paws. 

Instinctively I checked on Hoseok after that, and I was right in assuming he looked rattled. How he travelled alone all these years and hadn’t become accustomed to dangerous wildlife I’d never know. After gulping and letting out a slow breath, he raised his eyes to meet mine shyly. 

Looking embarrassed, he smiled a little and dropped his eyes to Zeek’s glossy black mane. “I… don’t see all that many bears.”

I didn’t reply. The more time I spent with Hoseok, the more he showed himself to be almost the opposite of what I had thought of him. He had seemed so confident, but after spending time with him there was only one thing he’d shown real confidence with, which was horses. He wasn’t a confident gunslinger, thief, hunter, or adventurer, and he wasn’t as confident around me as I’d thought either. 

We circled around to the west and followed the road for a while, and after some time the sun began to set. As freezing winds began to pick up, we made for home, heading uphill most of the way. It was a peaceful ride, mostly just walking and trotting, and by the end of it Zeek had calmed right down. I thanked my chaps for keeping most of Mateo’s sweat from my trousers as I slid off his back and pulled the halter over his ears.

I darted my eyes over at Hoseok beside me in the barn when he suddenly giggled, soft strands of dark hair falling in his eyes and silver earrings swinging gently with a soft clinking of metal. He was holding Mateo’s bridle in front of the stallion’s face, but the bit was still resting comfortably in the young horse’s mouth. Hoseok met my eyes for just a second, probably having felt my gaze on him, and something made him right himself and gently ease the stallion’s mouth open with a thumb in the corner of his lips. I looked back at Mateo and stroked his white blaze and pink nose, confused thoughts wrinkling my brow for a moment. Why was he acting oddly careful around me, for starters; what had changed?

Exhaustion caught up with me earlier than usual that evening, unsurprisingly after my lack of sleep. Entering the house I noticed Seokjin and Jungkook had brought back an impressive haul of game in the afternoon, and apparently everyone except Jimin helped skin and carve them while Hoseok and I were off riding. Seokjin washed blood from his shirt in the basin, three other shirts and union suits hanging on hooks to his left still dripping, which explained why not only he but also Namjoon, Jungkook, and Taehyung were all half naked. Taehyung and Jungkook sat side by side in front of the fire, occasionally peeking at and stirring the stew, and Jimin lounged on the small couch with his head in a thick novel.

Namjoon sat with his legs crossed on the end of the dining table chatting to Seokjin, and he turned to face me as I walked in, Hoseok following behind. “You’re back. What mischief have you two been up to?”

“Just getting Zeek’s saddle blanket wet,” Hoseok answered.

“How was he?”

“Skittish, but he calmed down.” Hoseok went to lean his hip on the table behind Namjoon, and the younger scooted over and twisted to face him, thigh resting along the timber and back against the wall.

“How long before he’s ready to move on?”

While they discussed the potential sale, I made for the room I claimed as mine and shed my coat, feeling a little warm in here with the crackling fire and all of the bodies. I felt oddly more relaxed then, my chest less tight and my breathing deeper, and I sat on the bed to kick off my boots and take off my gauntlets. It was comfortable here, there was no arguing that, but there were plenty of things I was going to take a while to get used to, and things I would only just be used to by the time we no doubt vacated this place as well. The woods out the window were peaceful and pretty making me feel a little less couped up in here. The warmth that the buildings would offer us during winter would be invaluable for saving us on food where we would have shivered all of it away in the outdoors. It was defensible and a privilege, and I hoped it wouldn't make us dependent. 

I heard the front door swing open and shut a few times over a quarter of an hour, and I headed out into the main room again when a few pairs of footsteps reentered the house. Jungkook and Taehyung sauntered in, their coats half closed over bare chests. 

"Horses are all fed and locked up," Taehyung said, his gaze on Seokjin with a confident smile. 

"Great, now we can eat," the elder replied from his crouch in front of the fire. He'd laid all of our bowls with spoons out along the timber floor and began to ladle us each a healthy portion. Taehyung hurried to bring the cut-up loaf of bread over as well and handed out dinner to each of us as Seokjin finished. 

"What's the booze smell?" asked a voice I had somewhat expected not to be there, and my gaze flicked to Hoseok who was emerging from the back storage room. He was carrying a small vial, but his eyes were trained on the cooking pot. Cue a vague tightening in my chest.

"Guarma rum and Kentucky bourbon," Seokjin answered. "I found the recipe here this morning." He didn't often cook with alcohol, but when he did I knew I'd get a good night's sleep. I felt a little gratitude for it, and Seokjin met my eyes knowingly. He had figured by now that I wasn't much for expressing thanks all that often, so he accepted my grin happily.

Hoseok whistled, a low sound that indicated he was either impressed or concerned. Possibly a mix of the two. "You tryna get me drunk?" He handed Jimin the vial and patted him on his good shoulder.

"It's not our fault you get drinky off a sniff," Namjoon goaded, already several mouthfuls through his before I'd even begun. I went to my usual seat at the table and dipped my bread to let it soak up some of the delicious broth. Namjoon and Seokjin sat around me, and we ate for a while in content silence. 

"This is otherworldly," Taehyung praised. "Almost as good as the Saint Denis one." I scrunched up my nose at the memory of miscellaneous herptile parts sliding down my throat, and I heard a groan from Jungkook and Seokjin.

"That was disgusting and you know it," Jimin snapped. 

"I didn't mind it," Namjoon managed to say with his mouth around way too much bread.

"You'd eat an old sock if I sprinkled it with oregano," Seokjin pointed out. We all laughed, and Namjoon's smile made his eyes disappear. 

Seokjin came around with a drink for everyone after a while. My cup was filled halfway with whisky, and I could smell gin and something else sweet in the others. I washed down my supper with a huge gulp, and it scalded wonderfully all the way to my belly. I could already feel everything become slightly slower, my head become heavier, and I knew the whiskey would only accelerate that. Seokjin always added the alcohol right at the end so not to 'cook away' its effects, so we were all pleasantly intoxicated at this point. 

Hoseok sat with his back against the side of Jimin's couch, his head against the armrest and his legs loosely crossed on the rug. He stared at his cup, seeming to contemplate whether or not to drink it. I turned in my chair to face him.

With a few other soft conversations going on around, I kept my voice low. "What's Seokjin trying to poison you with?”

Hoseok’s round eyes found mine after a second’s hesitation, as though he had no idea I was talking to him. “Oh,” he said after a moment and looked back at the iron cup in his hand. “It’s wine.”

“Wine?” I asked, voice higher than I meant for it to be, but I was a few standard drinks beyond embarrassment. “Where did he even get wine?”

“I brought it for us to share,” Hoseok said, cup now resting on his thigh, and he seemed to relax a little. Still, he didn’t hold my gaze for long. “We had a chat about it down in Lemoyne, said I’d bring him some next time. It’s… strong.”

I took another swallow from my whiskey and then patted the table beside me, pulling his eyes back to me again. It took twice as long as it would have had he been sober, but he managed to drag himself to the chair in front of me and plonk himself down. I felt as though I’d have a slight heaviness if I stood, but he looked most of the way drunk already. He also looked a lot less tense than he was earlier, and it made questions bubble to the surface that never would have without the social lubricant. 

“I haven’t tried wine,” I managed to say instead of any of them, some part of my dignity winning over my curiosity.

Hoseok raised the cup to his lips and met my eyes then. Holding his intent, chocolate gaze as he sipped gently did something to me that I pretended was entirely because of my drunkness. I cleared my throat as I looked away and rubbed my face in one hand, praying my cheeks didn’t look as hot as they felt.

Unable to help myself, I looked back towards him, though my eyes stopped at his cup instead of meeting his again. Instead of analysing any of the feelings in my body, I decided I needed to stop drinking. Hoseok placed the cup on the table beside him and sighed heavily. The fruity fragrance washed over me, a sweet but strong smell, and I wondered if it tasted as good as smelt. I had to distract myself before I tried to put any more alcohol in my body. 

“How is riding without your gloves going?” I asked, not meaning for it to come out like a jab, but he immediately narrowed his eyes as though he’d taken it as one. There was a small smile pulling his naturally down-turned lips up a little at the corners, and he pinned me with that look for a few moments before he let out a sigh.

“It’s been rough, not gonna lie.” He sat up and leant forwards, and his right hand opened as he held it out close to me. I instinctively looked down and took it in mine, fingers against his knuckles, and brushed his palm lightly with my thumb. He had some old blisters that had begun to heal, and at least one red and sore-looking patch on the side below his little finger. The skin was getting tougher, the sides of his fingers rough and stained in the natural lines of his fingerprints. It was a mix of funny and sad seeing his hands so torn and painful. Funny because honestly, he should have had tougher hands to begin with being someone who was in the saddle for most of his life, and sad because his skin had been so beautifully flawless before. 

"You have big hands," he observed quietly, and it made my lips twitch into a surprised smirk. Something always made me deflect flattery, even if that's not what he'd been intending.

"Your hands have taken a lacing." I pulled back and rested against the chair again, but his hand turned and held onto mine, his grip soft. I eyed him while he treated my palm to the same gentle stroke I'd given his and noticed his lips tilt back downwards again. 

"Yer hands don't feel that rough," he said, the wine on his breath almost heavy in the air between us, somehow overpowering the whiskey taste.

Someone by the fire stood up, and the presence of others around me made my hand retreat to my side again, my skin feeling a ghostly tingling where his touch had been. "Have you thought about using softer reins?" I asked, not daring to look over to see if anyone had been watching us.

"Mateo's felt nice, actually," he mused as he crossed his legs and reclined against the back of his chair. "I might get me some of those."

I nodded absently and thought to myself that I should definitely get some rest soon, the alcohol making me feel heavier by the minute. Sleeping would also give me some reprieve from confusing discomfort that I'd felt around Hoseok all day. With that thought I mumbled my intention to head to bed and did just that, and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out.

Unmemorable days passed, winter coming early and bringing with it small snowfalls that melted before noon. November approached in no time, and with it the horses grew long, fluffy coats to prepare for freezing nights. Hoseok came and went, borrowing my tack to ride whenever he needed, but he always asked first. Namjoon set up his Moonshine operation in the storage room and had begun preparing a large shipment that a buyer in Valentine had ordered. 

"Yoongi," the 'shiner called as I entered the main cabin after tethering Mateo and Ezekiel for the night. 

"Namjoon," I said back, stopping in my tracks in the middle of the timber floor. Namjoon swung open the back door a little wider and found my eyes. 

"I have a job for you."

"I'm thrilled." He didn't bother reacting to my sarcasm anymore. I wandered into the storage room with him where he'd laid out a map of the region on the only table still left in here after we gutted it to fit the still. He pointed to a place by Little Creek, West Elizabeth. 

"It's a long hike, but there's a bunch of O'Driscoll boys holed up here with a moonshine operation."

I pursed my lips and glared at him, disapproving. "I thought you didn't want to make enemies?"

"How are they gonna know it's me?" He gave me a cheeky half-smile and then looked back at the map. "You only have to sabotage their 'shine and get out without anyone noticing. The batch will poison a few folk, and they'll be out of business."

"Why not just avoid their buyers? You have customers all the time."

"Because they're expanding north, and they have the space and manpower to pump out ten times what I can produce."

I sighed, crossing my arms and resting my hip against the table. "So you don't think they'd tie me to you if I did get spotted?"

Namjoon shrugged. "Smutch your hair. Take Hoseok with you as well; they won't associate him with me." 

My lips twisted as I considered it. I knew he'd listen to me if I had any real objections, but I didn't. If there was any kind of mission I excelled at, it was a stealth one. 

"When?" 

"As soon as you can." 

I met his eyes again and nodded. "Got it, boss." I looked at the map again to make sure I knew exactly where it was, and then I turned to leave, Namjoon's hand patting me on the shoulder on my way out.

Hoseok wasn't here at the farm at all that day, but after a restless sleep and early wake-up, I met him entering the courtyard on his massive mare at a lazy walk. 

"Good morning Lady," I called, and Hoseok grinned. Lady nickered softly, and I pretended it was in response to me and not at Mateo and Zeek to her left. 

"What's got you out of bed before dawn?" Hoseok asked, easing Lady to a stop by my side, the delicate chains of his jewelry tinkling softly through the morning air. I stroked the giant mare’s thick neck, the fluffy warmth engulfing my hand.

"You and I are taking a trip west."

His brow creased for a moment. "We are?"

"Namjoon's got some 'shiner competition. Needs me to take them down a notch."

"Mmkay. Seems dangerous." He dismounted then sliding carefully and skillfully to the ground from the near six foot high saddle so not to take me out on the way down. I couldn't even see over her back, but he made mounting and dismounting look simple. 

"You don't have to come in with me, I just need to sneak by and throw something dirty in the stills then high tail it out of there." 

"Of course I'll come with you," he said and pulled Lady's reins over her head. "I just won't be much help."

I smiled and shook my head, turning to walk towards the stallions. "An extra pair of eyes will be all the help I need."

By the time I'd packed my rifle and provisions on my tacked up stallion, Namjoon and Seokjin were awake and cooking breakfast. Taehyung had been up taking the early guard shift, so he greeted us as he returned from patrolling the forest. I thought Hoseok might be taking Ezekiel for a short ride before we left, but when he wrapped a new pair of soft leather reins around the post Mateo was hitched at, I realised he didn't plan on taking Lady at all. I looked at the shire's saddle on his back, padded with two blankets, and Hoseok gave me an expectant look. 

"Eat first?" I asked. He seemed to suddenly notice the aroma of meat and spices coming from the house. 

"Oh, I ate already, but… I could eat again." When it came to Seokjin's cooking, I felt that resonate with me. 

Everyone had mostly finished when we came inside, so we were able to scrounge for the leftovers, share the last piece of bread, and be on our way within a quarter of an hour. 

"Why the horse switch?" I asked, volunteering conversation early in our trip for the first time in my life. 

"Figured it's a bit simpler with just the gents. And I feel a little silly beside you and Mateo on Lady."

I could have done without such honesty, even if I felt quite similarly about it. Astride Mateo, I hardly came to his shoulder when he was on Lady. As if I needed more reason to feel short while surrounded by giants, including my little brother. 

"Confident he's ready for a trip like this?" I asked, indicating Zeek’s current state, which was a bouncy trot despite us moving at a walking pace. Hoseok kept just enough contact with the stallion’s reins to stop him from taking off and rode the movement with loose hips and soft hands. It didn't look comfortable, like when Mateo was fresh and wanted to bolt. 

"One way to find out," he said, smirking at me.

~~~~~~~~~~

8D plz comment >8D


	10. Gang Activity

_Jimin’s POV_

Day eight after being shot was the first time I could use my arm without immediate pain. I had tried not to use it at all so that it would heal well, but each day I gave it a small test to see where I was at. Seokjin inspected the stitches over breakfast that day.

"Looking good; I could take these out tomorrow."

"Already?" Jungkook squeaked from beside me making me jump.

Seokjin gave him a disapproving glare for a second. "It's been over a week, Kook. It's gonna be fine." He seemed mildly exasperated by the full-time nursing Jungkook had been treating me to. I almost felt the same about it at times. Not because his fussing was irritating or because I didn't like him around; both of those things were untrue. It was because he was sending me utterly puzzling signals every time we were alone. In company, nothing much had changed. I didn’t notice anything different about how he interacted with anyone else either. It was just when we retired for the night, which would usually be when he became the most chatty. At the very least, I expected him to perk up when I joked about the usual silly things or complimented his hunting efforts. Apart from responding politely, he remained out of sorts. It made sleeping more difficult because I couldn't help but toss and turn with worry. 

The snow was coming down hard that night, littering the courtyard an even white that glowed in the moonlight. Jungkook held the heavy wooden door for me to our cabin, as frustratingly polite as always, and I passed him with a quiet sigh. The routine was the same: light the fire, undress, climb into bed, and lay in stifling silence until we both fell asleep. I couldn't stand another night of this if there was anything I could do about it, so I rolled onto my side to face him, but to my surprise he turned at the exact same time. Jungkook eyed me curiously for a moment before he gulped and made to say something, brows creasing and gaze moving away from mine. 

"It's… been weird, right?" he said after a moment, and his expression was fifty shades of uncomfortable while he waited for me to reply.

"Right," I replied, tense with anticipation. "Is everything okay?"

He nodded, hair messing up on the pillow. "I just… I think when you got shot… it scared me so much. I can't get it out of my head."

"I'm okay, Jungkook…" I reassured, not sure what else I could say. 

"I know… I just…" he struggled to come up with a way to say what he wanted to, and I tried to be patient. "I used to look at you and feel so carefree, but now I'm just scared all the time."

Meeting my eyes again, he looked wounded, emotions plainer on his face than I'd seen in a while. I slid my hand across the bed and under his blanket to find his arm, and he reciprocated by moving his hand to hold mine. 

"I get scared sometimes too," I said, looking down at where our hands were linked under the spotted pelt of his rug. His skin was warm, and he laced his fingers through mine. Fluttering started my belly, making itself known around all of the anxiety I felt about expressing my feelings like this. "I just wish you told me earlier, because I thought there was something… something else going on, I guess." 

"Like what?"

I didn't know how to explain how I had been feeling. There wasn't anything clean-cut about it; it just felt so strange and different compared to the relationship that I was used to.

"Like… we weren't the same people anymore. Like something changed."

Jungkook shuffled forwards slightly and tilted his head down, forehead pressing to mine, and I closed my eyes, soaking up his comforting closeness. It still didn't feel the same having talked it out a little. It wasn't like before. Before I was relaxed, and Jungkook was my closest friend in the world. Now, even calming down from the tension I'd felt a few moments ago, I was anything but relaxed. I had to force myself to breathe in a rhythm, feeling the butterflies in my stomach turn to trembles in my chest. Overwhelmed and confused, I found myself wanting him closer. 

I pulled our hands against my chest, back under my warm fur rugs, and Jungkook moved forward just a little, just enough. In the soft, flickering candlelight, with a snowy breeze shaking the trees outside, I noticed nothing but him as I lifted my head to press my lips to his. Jungkook turned slightly to face me, an almost inaudible hum of surprise sounding in his throat, and his hand squeezed mine. With no idea what I was doing—or why—I pulled back and looked at him, heart pounding. That wide-eyed expression was the same one he'd been giving me all week; indecipherable, but more surprised this time. I rested my head back on my pillow, but his grip on my hand didn't relax. 

However odd and puzzled I felt—not to mention hot and bothered—it was a titanic relief to feel close to Jungkook again. We fell asleep lying a breath apart, hands clasped between us.

The morning brought a familiar discomfort; a slow, tense throb in my groin. It was hot all around me, and it took a while to wake enough to feel Jungkook pressed right against me, his head on my right arm and his fingers still laced with my left hand. My breaths ruffled his hair, and shifting my leg just slightly, I could feel his long heavy limbs tangled with mine. I didn’t know how to move just yet, not wanting to wake him but also feeling more and more stiflingly hot as the touch of his body registered on a more conscious level. I gulped. Figuring I was doomed to suffer for a while anyway, I let my mind wander to the night before. 

We got to a good place by discussing how we felt. It went back to being comfortable, but then without a moment to appreciate it I managed to make it confusing again. Before, I was confused and concerned. Now, I was confused and horny. Lying here, wrapped in his limbs and breathing his smell, I wasn’t sure which was worse. As much as I suffered, it was relieving to be warm for once, and even more so not to wake up feeling alienated. 

If I hadn’t woken earlier, I would have when our cabin door opened quietly. I lifted my head to see who it was just as Taehyung said ‘hey’ loudly enough to wake Jungkook. With that, Jungkook’s body flexed with surprise, his legs folding a little tighter, pushing his thigh into my crotch with just enough pressure to make me see stars. As much as I tried not to, I moaned, and two shocked sets of eyes landed on me. Jungkook realised quickly what he’d done, even half asleep, and rolled onto his back away from me to rub his eyes and sit up. 

“Anyway,” Taehyung said, and I couldn’t bring myself to look at him again, my face blazing. “Jimin, Namjoon says to gear up; we got wind of Laramie activity near here.”

I sat up quickly then, freezing air rushing in and making me scrabble to cover myself with more than just my thin shirt and pants.

“Gangs wandering around up here this close to winter?” Jungkook said, his voice scratchy.

“Could be nothing, but we need to be ready, especially with Yoongi away.”

I knew Yoongi was off on some mission for Namjoon today, but I didn’t know he’d be leaving so early.

“I’m coming,” I said, cringing as my bare feet landed on the icy timber. Taehyung shut the door as he left. I threw on a thick jumper and my coat over the top before stepping into my boots. I dared shoot a glance at Jungkook before I left. He met my gaze for just a second before lowering his eyes with a tiny smile. I left the cabin with flaming cheeks and a goofy grin.

Leaving Seokjin and Jungkook to hold down the fort, Namjoon, Taehyung, and I mounted up and took to the road in the direction Taehyung had last seen the Laramie Gang members. He mentioned something about Bacchus station, but he hadn't ventured far enough to see exactly what the scene was, only recognised the bandits from afar venturing through the woods with masks up and weapons drawn. Namjoon’s Springfield rifle was well-cleaned and hanging on the side of Voltaire’s saddle, the morning sun glittering off it’s steel scope. He hadn’t used it in a while, but he kept it in better condition than most of us. I was excited at the thought of taking on a gang today; I’d been idle for much too long. But then, I thought about Jungkook. The concern wrinkling his brow was stuck in my head. 

At a gentle trot, we made our way east. “So,” Taehyung said, snapping me out of my musing, and Namjoon looked at him while drinking from his waterskin, likely expecting him to give us some more information about the gang. “Sharing a bed’s giving you kids a sexual awakening.”

Namjoon choked and spluttered on his water. I felt the blood drain from my face.

“Do you have to?” I groaned, but I realised he owed me after I teased him about Seokjin.

“What in the blazes are you on about Taehyung?” Namjoon asked, voice a little hoarse from inhaling his drink.

Taehyung grinned with such mischief that I felt like I’d have to bola and gag him to keep him from telling Namjoon what had happened this morning. I sighed heavily and turned my face away to the cool breeze of the forest. 

“I caught them in an embrace this morning,” he said, and I dreaded what he would say next.

“You can’t talk; you mumble about Jin in your sleep.”

My head whipped around then, just catching Taehyung as embarrassment painted his face red. Thank god for Namjoon keeping the teasing to a minimum. I was already going to relive that uncomfortable moment for the rest of my life. 

A short ride after crossing into Cumberland Forest, we were close enough to see the scene down the hill at Bacchus station, so we pulled off the road and huddled to talk quietly. We watched the chaos ahead of us from up the hill: station guards and rail passengers held up by violent gunsmen, no doubt gang members. There was no train in sight, but the station likely had something they wanted inside.

“What are they doing all the way up here?” I asked in a whisper, thinking I’d only encountered the Laramie Gang in New Austin before. 

“No clue. We don’t want them sniffing around Granite Pass… Maybe they got wind of our hideout.” Namjoon began, deep thinking clear on his face. “What do you think, attack and save these people or high-tail it home?”

Taehyung gripped the butt of his rifle and sighed. “Is the whole gang here? ‘Cuz if we don’t kill them all, they’ll be after us.”

Namjoon nodded, taking that into account. “Okay. I reckon we go in. We save some innocents, and we leave no one alive to run back to their leader.”

I hadn’t seen Namjoon raring to go for a fight like this before. It gave us both confidence. We agreed in synch and pulled our bandanas up to cover our faces. Taehyung’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and Frost reared under him a few times, just about ready to explode from the vibes he was giving off. At Namjoon’s cue we aimed our rifles and fired in synch, each taking out a bandit with skillful aim. 

With our position revealed, we spread out at a sprint, hooves thudding on green grass that was damp with melted snow. Laramie boys scrambled to find cover, and bound bystanders screamed, ducked, and scrambled around behind the station. Being shot at now, I was careful to keep moving. Tilly kicked up quite a stink today, apparently not in the mood to be in the crossfire, and I tried to ignore it while covering Taehyung’s brave gallop through the thick of it, his pistols blazing. She threw in some good bucks and almost unseated me, but luckily gave up before I toppled embarrassingly mid-gunfight. Namjoon’s sleek mare carried him at a ridiculous speed around the field, and it didn’t hinder his shot at all. He took out three bandits in a row without missing a beat, and when I thought we’d finished, she galloped off down the hill after one who was fleeing. 

Taehyung stopped Frost by the station, checking with a glance that all of the gang members were in fact dead, and suddenly he was swarmed by four station guards. I almost shouted something, but I was too surprised. They pointed pistols at him, and I cantered Tilly down the hill to see what it was all about. He held his hands high, pistols held in each but his fingers off the triggers. One final gunshot rang through the air making everyone turn towards the direction in which Namjoon and Voltaire had gone, and it was enough to give Taehyung the chance to bolt. 

Speedy Frost zipped away from the guards like lightning, needing nothing more than a twist in the saddle and a rough spurring to her ribs. I turned Tilly as well then, ready for a sprint back north, knowing Namjoon would find a safe way to follow. Gunshots and harsh shouts followed us making me duck over Tilly’s neck, but as I did she squealed, a sickening sound of pain, and tumbled forwards. I didn’t have a second to react. I was flung from her saddle and skidded face-first up the dirt road. Before I had a second to figure out what had happened, Taehyung scooped me up and dragged me onto Frost’s rump, and we were off through the forest. Shock and adrenaline kept me clinging tightly to Taehyung’s waist, but dread set in after a little while. What happened to Tilly?

Back at the farm, I flung myself off Frost’s rump and collapsed to my knees, head in my hands as sobs racked my whole body. The shock had passed and left only horror. Thinking back, I realised Tilly must have been shot. I didn’t know where—possibly her leg—and we’d just left her there. Agonising guilt ripped through me thinking about her suffering, thinking that I’d run away to save myself. There were murmurs around me and hooves shuffling off towards the barn. I couldn’t move, crippled with pain and self-loathing. Tears dripped to the mud and streaked my face. I had never been this devastated in my entire life. 

A while passed while I suffered like this, every part of my body in pain but none as much as the aching in my heart.

“Jiminnie…” came a soft, sad voice. I sniffed, attempting to stop my sobbing long enough to look up. Jungkook’s concerned face reflected my pain for a moment, but then a moment later he looked past me and pointed. My brow wrinkled with confusion, and I saw Seokjin run past me. I turned, heart racing, and saw what I thought I’d never see again. My beautiful chestnut mare was limping towards me, Namjoon leading her from Voltaire’s side at an uncomfortable trot. 

Suddenly I was sobbing again, and Jungkook helped me up to go to her. I pressed myself to her thick, fluffy neck and cried and cried. She was breathing heavily and sweating buckets, but she was alive. Seokjin barked orders at Namjoon, and I managed to pull myself together enough to let him take her to the barn. Jungkook caught me before I could collapse again. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said, wrapping my arm over his shoulder and leading me to the main house.

Feeling exhausted and relieved as I sank down into my usual couch, I reminded myself Jin would take care of Tilly, and with slight relaxation came the realisation of just how much physical pain I was in. My face and wrists were decorated with shredded skin, stinging and crusted with blood and dirt. Jungkook had a warm, wet cloth and started with my face. All I could do was breathe deeply, trying to find my calm again, and watch him gently dab at my wounds. 

“I’m sorry, Jimin,” Taehyung said as he emerged from the room left of the fireplace. “I wasn’t thinking; I just wanted to get you safe.” I looked up at him, keeping still while Jungkook finished cleaning a graze on my forehead. He looked genuinely regretful and guilty, a look I didn’t see on him often. 

“I know, it’s fine,” I replied. In the grand scheme of things, human life was more important. I couldn’t ever imagine I’d have left Taehyung—or anyone else—to save Tilly.

“I’ll check on her for you,” he said then, making for the door, obviously wanting to do anything he could.

Jungkook started on my left wrist after wrigning the cloth out in a bucket and wetting it with fresh water. “You’ve really been through it, haven’t you,” he mumbled, eyes on our hands while he worked.

“I just hope Tilly is okay.” 

Jungkook nodded. “Of course.” He noticed something on my shirt and sighed. “You’re bleeding here too,” he sighed, beckoning to my old wound. For a while longer we sat quietly while Jungkook finished cleaning my wounds, my shirt and coat now draped over the stump on my right. There was dirt in my eyes and mouth, and I started to feel the cut on my lip sting and throb more than anywhere else. Jungkook rose to his feet once he was satisfied with his cleaning efforts and disappeared into the storage room and rummaged in our medical box.

With a slightly nervous touch, he smoothed some ointment on each and every cut and graze, finishing with my split lip. His sympathetic smile made me feel just a little better. “Thanks,” I said softly, the stinging of my grazes making way for general aches from hitting the ground so hard. Jungkook looked about to say something when Taehyung came back into the house, and Namjoon followed him looking frazzled.

Jungkook and I faced them anxiously, and even though every part of me screamed in pain, I couldn’t wait another second to hear how she was.

“Tilly is gonna be fine,” Taehyung said with a genuine smile.

Namjoon huffed a little, slumping himself down on my coat beside the couch. “She had a bullet stuck in between the bones in her hock, which we got out, but she might have a limp for good.” My heart broke a little hearing that. She had taken so many hits for me in the past, and I knew this day would come, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. “We’ll just have to see how she heals.”

I gulped and nodded, managing a soft ‘thanks’ without breaking down again, but only by the skin of my teeth. I wanted to go see her, but I also wanted to sleep for the rest of the week until the pain went away. I followed the rest of what he said about Seokjin keeping an eye on her for tonight and accepted his quickly-prepared brew to help me sleep. Jungkook helped me into my coat and back outside to see her before I retired for the rest of the day.

Tilly was quite well sedated when I stepped into the barn with her and Seokjin. She didn’t stir when I stroked her neck and leant my forehead on her crest. “I’m so sorry girl,” I whispered, managing to contain myself before I cried again. She was breathing steadily and resting her injured, bandaged hind leg. Jin sat propped up against the wall, cleaning bridles. He let me have a few moments with her in silence, and after a while I retreated to the cabin with a cautious Jungkook in tow. 

It didn’t feel any better to lie down at first. I was going to bruise everywhere. My bullet wound throbbed mercilessly, and my arms were stinging from every single movement I made. As frigid as the air was in here, getting under the covers seemed like torture. Jungkook pulled his rug over me carefully, stopping before covering my chest. His fingers ghosted over the flesh between my ribs, sending chills down my spine that distracted me from the pain for just a second. 

“I’ll bring you supper later if you’re awake,” he said with one last smile, and then reluctantly left the cabin. As much pain as I was in, the health cure in combination with all of the stress knocked me out for the rest of the evening. 

Sometime in the middle of the night, I woke up to the bed pulling down on one side, and I groggily turned to peer through the darkness. Jungkook crawled right to my side and slumped down heavily, just shy of bumping into me. He smelt strongly of vanilla moonshine, and the uncoordinated way in which he tried to gently ease himself under the covers proved he was completely wasted. Jungkook snuggled against me, breathing heavily, and fell asleep almost immediately. Slowly warming up and feeling comforted by his presence, I was lulled back to sleep as well.

By morning I was feeling all kinds of beaten up, as though run over by a wagon. The stinging had gone away for now, replaced by throbbing, bone-deep aches. I didn’t want to move for fear of hurting even more. As consciousness crept in, I remembered the brief moments last night during which I’d been joined in bed. Jungkook was heavy against me, snoring softly with his face against my neck. He still smelt of booze, and I imagined he’d be hungover when he woke, but I enjoyed every second we laid there. 

I realised he’d woken when his breathing changed, and a few seconds passed before he stirred. He nuzzled against my neck with a sleepy hum. I couldn’t help but smile, and I bit my lip to distract myself from the butterflies he gave me. It started getting easier to interpret how I was feeling about him, and despite being startlingly new and still confusing, it felt positively euphoric. I tipped my chin down to rest my face against his hair and breathed in, eyes drifting shut. Slowly, he pulled back just enough to look at me, blinking sleepily still. Eventually he gave up and closed his eyes again, and he pressed his forehead to mine with a croaky groan. I winced slightly from the contact, bruises and grazes making themselves known, and he suddenly jerked backwards in shock.

“Oh,” he croaked, and then cleared his throat, looking much more awake than before. “I’m sorry, I forgot…” His squint turned to a concerned expression. “You look like shit.”

My lips pursed, an expression of faux-despondency lingering briefly. “Thanks.”

His nose wrinkled with a grin then, fluffy hair sweeping over his eyes as he rested his head back on my pillow. "I might take a while getting used to this…" he said, eyes slitted, still unused to the light.

My heart jumped. "To what?"

"You," he began, his deep brown eyes staying in mine for just a few seconds before his gaze dropped between us. "... Coming home even more beaten up than when you left."

My stomach turned a little at his words. I'd been injured countless times in the years since we'd been living together, even since we'd been thick as thieves. But without having to ask I knew why it was different now, and the thought caused a return of my usual butterflies. It was different now, because we weren't just close. There were feelings there that weren't there before. For me, at least. Hesitance swept over me while we laid in silence, but I forgot all about it when he met my eyes again. 

His expression was unreadable—not that that was unusual—but at least I knew that were were on the same page about our friendship. Gripped with a sudden urge to kiss him again, it took everything I had to stay still and let the feeling pass. For now, this was enough. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Feelsy Jikook _THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING_ also I'm so sorry about Tilly ｡：ﾟ(｡ﾉω＼｡)ﾟ･｡

ALSO HBD min suga ily forever

ALSO author is cry because BTS aren't coming to my country so long story short I'll probably never see them live again? At least for 10 years until they all finish the military. Cry with me.


	11. Shenanigans

I'm back with another huge gif lkjsfhldkjfhd Hope you like this chappy

~~~~~~~~~~

_ Chapter Glossary: _

** Smooth: ** a meadow or grass field.

~~~~~~~~~~

_ Yoongi's POV  _

Riding at a walk south-west through the mountains and further into the Grizzlies West, we encountered colder weather and some snowfall that had been piling up for a while. Not many others travelled these roads at this time of year, so it was a quiet and uneventful journey. We stopped at Cattail Pond to refresh ourselves and the stallions, almost half way to our destination before noon. At a canter or gallop, we could make it the rest of the way in two or three hours, but if Hoseok insisted on taking it slow with Ezekiel, it would be the rest of the day before we made it. It didn't bother me either way, because we'd have to wait for the cover of night to strike regardless. 

I could have ridden for the entire day without too much discomfort, but it still felt good to take a rest after a few hours. I sat on a log and stretched my legs out while absently watching Mateo splash his front hoof in the creek and proceed to drink the muddied water afterwards. Hoseok held the reins of Zeek's new bridle while the stallion drank a little, and then he tied him to the end of the log on which I sat. Both horses ended up grazing happily on the sweet river grass, Zeek learning how to navigate the metal bar in his mouth with some difficulty.

We shared a packet of assorted biscuits and a can of strawberries while resting in uncomfortable silence. To me, at least, it was uncomfortable. Hoseok was back to his tense and reserved self, jumping to assist or do as asked as though I was commanding him and keeping quiet unless absolutely necessary. I concluded that he was one of the lucky ones gifted with the social skills to adapt to his company. Around others he was somewhere between politely friendly and positively bubbly; the latter with Taehyung, Jimin, and Jungkook, and the former with Namjoon, Seokjin, and shopkeepers or strangers. With me, he was sometimes cheerful, but recently he was mostly quiet. If only the other five knew how to be quiet. 

We remounted to finish our trip after an hour or so, Hoseok having insisted that his young horse needed the time to rest his back. An hour was a long time to sit in silence, I realised. It isn't something I'd been able to do before because my usual company would have exploded before lasting fifteen minutes without chatting. Hoseok had a mystifying ability to summon a need for conversation, so I searched my brain as we pulled back onto the road.

"What kind of a price are you hoping to get for Zeek when you sell?" I asked, and Zeek's head flicked up in response to his rider's surprise; Hoseok had tensed from my voice breaking the quiet. 

"Uh," he began, probably lost deep in his mind like I usually was when someone addressed me. "It depends. I would wait for the auctions and set a high reserve price, but you never know who might be there and recognise him. It's possibly too risky."

“So no auctions. Where are there distant buyers with deep pockets?” I knew little of the horse-breeding trade aside from the Grays and Braithwaites, and it obviously wasn’t an option to try to sell him back to either of them. Hoseok still hadn’t mentioned a price, I noticed.

“Hmm. If he was a smaller horse I’d suggest the mines in Annesburg, or a pulling horse maybe for the trade routes, but he’s really a perfect saddle and breeding stallion.” Hoseok’s brow creased with thought. 

“You don’t think he’d be good in harness?”

“Not until he grows a brain,” Hoseok said, stroking the black mane, but it was affectionate rather than an insult. Most horses, especially stallions, were of a young mind until they were five or six, but Hoseok seemed to insinuate that this boy would act young for a long time yet. A wagon horse had to be steady and level-headed, which I couldn’t see Ezekiel being any time soon. 

“So… what’s your plan?”

Hoseok was deep in thought for a while. He looked conflicted, staring ahead but not seeming to see much. He looked over at me after a while, his mouth opening to hesitantly answer. “I was thinking the Wapiti people.”

The way he looked into my eyes was startlingly cautious and hesitant. “The Wapiti? Do they have any money?”

Hoseok stammered a little in his reply. I could tell he was concerned about sharing this with me and wanted to justify his thoughts. “They have goods, and would be great allies to have on our side, especially with how close y’all are living…”

I considered some of his points. He wasn’t wrong; native tribes were skilled in creating clothing, weapons, and unique art that sold well in places like Saint Denis. They were also skilled warriors, which—if this encounter with the O’Driscolls went badly—could come in very handy.

"Okay, let's see what they have for trade."

Hoseok looked straight ahead then, his expression changing to relieved. I wasn't sure what he expected me to say.

We crossed into West Elizabeth and followed the road beside the eastern end of Little Creek River for a while. The scenery was breathtaking here. It was its own fertile valley at the foot of Mount Hagen, surrounded by alpine woods and dissected down the middle by a rushing river. White tailed deer and pronghorn grazed around the stunning purple lupine flowers. 

"Let's go for a run on the smooth," Hoseok suggested out of nowhere, dragging me back to focus. 

"Oh yeah? Race me?" I said, feeling suddenly excited. Hoseok laughed, and just seeing his joyful expression caused mine to reflect it.

"I wouldn't hope to beat you and Mateo on your worst day."

Mateo felt my excitement and began to trot which caused Zeek to puff up and increase his pace as well. I tilted my head at Hoseok expectantly, and he just shook his head, a 'what the hell' look crossing his face as he rolled his eyes and cued Zeek to gallop. I was less than a second behind in spurring my stallion on, and he surged forward with all of his strength. 

Every animal within a mile radius scattered, the thundering of hooves spooking them away from the plains. Mateo liked to be side by side with other horses, so I let him keep pace with Hoseok's young one for a while. Zeek handled the new experience well for the most part. When I asked Mateo for a little more and broke ahead, Zeek powered forward but couldn't keep up, and he reacted with a few frustrated bucks. Hoseok just laughed in response, probably riding the tantrum perfectly, though I could only hear the shenanigans from my position in front of them. 

Forgetting about the race, I decided to stop there, gathering my reins and sitting back. Mateo came back to a trot quickly and we turned to face the pair behind us. Hoseok's hair was windswept and his grin was delighted. Ezekiel threw in a few small kicks as they slowed, but his rider hardly noticed. 

"That was fun," he said, patting his mount's neck. I took a while to remind myself what we were doing in the first place, having lost myself in the joy of going flat-out for the first time in a while. Mateo was hardly even breathing more heavily from it, so fit he could gallop for hours. 

"Back to business," I said after probably too long enjoying the sight of Hoseok's smile. I turned Mateo away and pondered his mood swings and stifling silence a little more as we trotted to the road and made our way to the hideout. It was pleasant when he smiled. I missed it. 

Hanging Dog Ranch could only be described as an absolute dump. In its former glory it may have been an impressive sight. However, these days it was run by the O'Driscoll boys gang, and by 'run' I meant 'occupied', because they didn't run it as a farm at all. They wouldn't have been able to even if they wanted, because everything was so run-down I would have bet not a single building kept the rain or snow out. The fences certainly wouldn't keep animals in. Wagons, crates, weeds, and other debris littered the place, and from as far away as we were when we dared wander past, it looked like the men living there were staying in tents rather than the dilapidated buildings. 

We continued past the farm to a quiet clearing in the woods, far enough away to not be seen making a small camp there. Hoseok and I tethered the horses by Little Creek River and started a fire to keep warm while we waited for nightfall. Back to heavy silence again, I found myself more and more eager to fill it as time passed, but I told myself that that was silly. I loved when people were blissfully silent. It made no sense to suddenly wish we could just chat. Chatting was absolutely not me. 

Despite how much it made me feel like cringing, I started up a new conversation, once again surprising him after more than an hour of wordless company. 

"Namjoon suggested I blacken my hair for this… at least what you can see outside my hat."

Hoseok looked at me, then at the fire and back again. "Good idea. We can do that." He moved some smaller sticks into the flames to burn into coal. "How many stills do they have, do you know?"

I breathed in deeply, thinking hard, and then sighed with a slight shake of my head. "At least three I suspect. If we can poison two I'll be happy."

"What're you using to poison them?"

I reached into my satchel to my left and pulled out a jar of water with a few sprigs of flowers inside. "Water Hemlock."

Hoseok squinted and leant past the fire to take the jar and inspect it. "Looks a little like ginseng."

"Remind me not to let you forage for me," I said with the hint of a smile.

Hoseok didn't seem amused as he handed it back. "Will it kill people?"

I rested the jar on the grass beside me and looked up at him, a mix of confused and slightly annoyed. "I don't know, why?"

His lips twitched as he looked away, and he folded his arms around his knees, looking smaller as he pondered how to respond, or whether to at all. "Would be a shame to hurt innocent folk is all."

An owl made low sounds in the trees nearby filling the silence that now hung between us, too tense for me to stand for long. "I told you you don't have to help me."

When he didn't reply again, I assumed he wasn't pulling out now. He sat in brooding silence on the other side of the flames, and with the moon now high in the sky, the flickering light danced across his skin, and his jacket shone in shades of orange. I tore my gaze away, embarrassed, when he caught me staring. I dreaded to think what was going through his mind about me recently. He made me feel like an idiot, and I had no idea how to control it. 

I pulled out a book from my satchel, determined to get lost in Oscar Wilde's stories for a while. It would have been torture to endure any more of this waiting in awkward silence until it was late enough to presume my stealth mission would be safest. Despite the stories being for children, Jungkook and I had never grown tired of them. The vivid pictures it mustered in my mind and the relatable morbid themes never failed to be entertaining. I read until I felt sleepy, and I managed to pull myself out of  The Happy Prince before I dozed off. It was quite cold by then, and looking up from the pages I noticed it had begun to snow. Hoseok was still sitting in a withdrawn pose, his head turned towards the forest, hands clasped together in front of his shins. I cleared my throat as I put my book away, but he didn't spook this time, just faced me with a tired expression that changed as he raised his brows and made an attempt to come back to the present from wherever his mind had been. 

"I collected some coals," he said, showing me a bowl full of black powder. While I'd been in Oscar Wilde's fantasy universe, he'd been preparing my temporary hair colour. I gulped. Time to get black absolutely everywhere.

"Thanks," said quietly and stretched a little to wake my muscles back up. Hoseok came to kneel beside me, and I took my hat off hesitantly. My roots had began to show my natural colour. I assumed that's what made him smile when he looked at the top of my head. 

"This could be interesting," he said, and then after a pause, "lay back against the log so it doesn't fall all down your coat."

Hoseok set to work covering me in charcoal, making me wonder why I didn't just tuck it under my hat and avoid all of this trouble. It would definitely throw them off my trail, though, if they were chasing a dark-haired vandal. I just hoped they wouldn't see me at all, save us a gang war we may not be able to win. 

"What's the story behind this colour then?" Hoseok asked after a while. I hummed in thought, eyes closed half to stop any charcoal getting in them and half so I could almost pretend it wasn't Hoseok's hands in my hair.

"I thought it would stop people calling me pale all the time."

I could tell from his voice that he'd smiled widely at that. "Did it?"

"Not at all. But I liked it anyway. It's just a habit now."

"Not tryna run from your past or anything?" The smile faded from his voice a little, and I tried not to think about my past too much right then. 

"Nothing like that." 

He hummed thoughtfully and then suddenly removed his touch, and I felt him move away a little. "All done. Looks  totally natural," he said, and I opened my eyes while I sat up to see his restrained grin. I had no intention of finding out what it looked like, and immediately slapped my hat on in an attempt to forget about it. 

We left the horses by camp and made for the old ranch on foot with nothing but our pistols in our holsters, bandanas over our faces, and my satchel full of poison. Predictably, Hoseok became gradually more anxious the closer we came. After a while of observation crouched behind a broken wagon, I concluded that the only guards were on the other side of the barn, which was where I planned to check first. 

"Keep an eye out for me, okay?" I whispered to Hoseok, and he nodded in a jerky movement, gulping. I patted his arm for a second before crouch-walking silently to the back wall of the barn and around to a window. There was nobody in sight from where I leant my back against the ancient timber. I eased myself upwards excruciatingly slowly until I could just see in the window, and I noticed a guard fast asleep, propped up in a sitting position by the corner of one of the stables. Inside each of the three grooming stations was a giant copper moonshine still, more intricate and twice the size of Namjoon’s. With several of these it was no wonder they were able to produce much more than us. 

I hoisted myself up through the window and landed almost noiselessly on the other side. Watching the snoring figure until I reached my target, I fished the hemlock jar out and trickled some of the liquid into the still’s slightly-cracked vapor cone. After repeating this with the other two stills, I was able to slip silently back outside and make my way to the wagon from behind which Hoseok was peeking his head. I managed to somewhat dodge his seeking hands trying to grab onto me as though to make sure I was alive. With nothing more than a hushed whisper to encourage him to go, we dashed out of there and made for our horses in the woods. 

Despite how cold it was, the first thing I did when returning to camp was take off my coat and bend forward to pour the entirety of my waterskin on my head. Blackened water spilled onto the grass, and I ruffled my fingers through my hair to clean most of it. I shook the water from it and then plonked my hat on carelessly, thinking about nothing but how badly I wanted to go home to my bed. I just hoped Hoseok was up for a gallop, as it was past midnight already. 

We mounted and turned to take a back route through the woods to avoid possible suspicious eyes on the off chance that The O'Driscoll boys had spotted something. Less than a mile on, we both ducked in unison to dodge a flying projectile of some kind, and it occurred to me after the initial shock that it had been a knife. Adrenaline surged through me as I pulled out my rifle and aimed past Hoseok in the direction from which it came, the pitch-black woods bound to give away something. The next sound was more alarming, and it made me lower my rifle. 

The next knife had hit Hoseok. It was on his opposite side so I couldn't see where. I lifted my Carcano to aim down the sight again, attempting to zero in on any movement. Terrifyingly, there was nothing. Hoseok had dashed away by then, Ezekiel carrying him at a full sprint north, which isn't the way we were planning to go. I spurred Mateo on to follow and we eventually caught up. With the chance of being followed at this pace quite low, I calmed down enough to think straight for a moment. 

Heading back to our hideout now could be a bad idea, because who ever wanted to hurt us could have followed. Wherever the terrified, injured rustler was taking me, at least it wasn't back there. I glanced behind us occasionally to make sure we weren’t being followed. The horses began to slow down despite being driven on as we reached far enough north that the ground was covered in snow. In a little over ten minutes of galloping at this speed we’d crossed back into Ambarino and ventured unintentionally into the beginnings of a snowstorm. It wasn’t until I heard Hoseok’s pained voice begging for Ezekiel to slow down that I realised his beast wasn’t running because Hoseok asked him to, he was running because he was terrified. 

Mateo did what he did best and sidled right up close to the other stallion so I could grab his reins under his neck. At breakneck speed I was as careful as possible not to do anything hasty. Zeek’s head raised sharply, almost colliding with his rider’s who was bent over in the saddle, but finally he began to slow beside my mount and come to a halt, albeit a stressed one, his tail swishing, eyes wide, and neck elevated. I kept hold of him then, noticing Hoseok was looking weak and in agony. 

Harsh icy winds whipped at our faces, and my hand not on Zeek’s reins held my hat on my head. “Where did it get you?” I shouted through the dark, sleet stinging my flushed cheeks.

“My leg,” he called back.

“We have to find help...” I considered turning around to make for Strawberry, Valentine, or even camp now that we’d disappeared far enough not to be followed. I steered Mateo around to Hoseok’s right side to see how his injury looked and was shaken to see the knife still lodged hilt-deep in his thigh, a trembling, bloody hand hovering close to the wound. “Christ.”

I racked my brains for how to go about this. He needed help, preferably from someone like Seokjin or an actual doctor, but we were about to be snowed in here. Visibility was only feet ahead of us in the pitch, stormy night. I couldn’t think of anything but finding somewhere to lay low and attempting to treat it myself. There was an outpost nearby if my memory of the northern region served, so I began to lead the way towards there, if I could tell at all where I was going in these conditions.

~~~~~~~~~~


	12. Whisky and Leather

plz forgive huge strangely square pointless gif of muddyyyy muddy Valentine ok

~~~~~~~~~~

_Chapter Glossary:_

**Dynamite:** (in this context) Whiskey

 **Laudanum:** opium and alcohol with some flavouring (cherry, vanilla, etc.). A drug/painkiller that is very addictive.

 **Like Bricks:** really fast, with energy

 **Loaded to the gunwhales:** wasted drunk.

 **Made his jack:** got what he aimed at.

_Yoongi’s POV_

As we steered the horses out of the forest, a whole range of tiny cabins became slightly visible, but not a single one looked in good condition. The closest to us had four walls and a roof at least, so I decided it would do. Hoseok put on a braver face than usual as I caught him sliding out of the saddle and helped him hobble inside. The building was hardly even a shack, the size of a large bedroom at best, and every wall was littered with holes. However, considering the storm outside, I was thankful for it. There was decrepit furniture that had at some point been a bed and a few chairs, even a table. An old barrel end, about one third of it that had likely served as a stool, rested upside down in the middle of the tiny room, and I managed to flip it with my boot so it could now serve as a chair. Hoseok mumbled his thanks more than necessary as I stomped the base to make sure it wouldn't collapse when his weight landed on it.

Hoseok groaned a little as he finally got off his feet, and I got to work finding some semblance of dry wood to start a fire.

The stone fireplace behind me had been used more recently than this building had been lived in. Travellers often sheltered in places like this, especially as far north as we were where weather like this was not uncommon. Underneath the layers of dust and light snow that had managed to blow through the window, there were enough scraps of old furniture to burn for a while, at least until I could go raid the other houses. My priority was keeping Hoseok alive.

He was sweating even in this weather when my eyes landed on his face for a split second, and it made me feel a little queasy. I could kill a man in cold blood, but watching someone I cared about suffering like this was different. Hoseok's chest rose and fell with his panting, his hands holding around the wound but seeming unsure what else to do.

With a fire crackling in just a few moments, I figured I could stop the bleeding before it got too dangerous. I had cauterised a wound before, but that didn't mean I wanted to do it again.

Hoseok eyed me with panic and agony painted on his face. "How long will it take?" He seemed to have realised what my plan was before I told him. 

"A few seconds," I assured him, though I wasn't entirely sure myself. Aware my bone knife wasn’t going to work, I reached for his steel blade instead and shoved it into the coals. Taking a deep breath, I focused back on his wound and paused while considering a path of action. My fingers slipped on the slick cotton around the knife in his leg, and I got onto my knees to steady myself. Hoseok reached towards me, hand trembling, and clasped my shoulder for support. The ripping of his trouser leg caused a flinch, I assumed from pain but possibly fear as well. I tore the thin undergarment more easily to make a clear patch of skin for the task ahead. With the still-dribbling stab exposed, I figured it was best to get this over with. I quickly went back for his heated blade, but gave it as long as I could to get hotter before I went to yank it free. It had just begun to glow red, so I had a few moments before it would be safe to use. Even the ebony handle was almost scaldingly hot.

"Now," I said, searching the ground with my eyes and suddenly seeing what I needed. I reached behind me for a stick just the right size. "You might want to bite this."

Hoseok's shaking, bloody hand left my shoulder just long enough to take my advice. His chest heaved with terrified breaths, and tears streaked his cheeks. I held his eyes for a moment, the blade finally the colour of steel again, and decided against giving him any warning. The enemy's knife unsheathed from his flesh with a sickening sound, and his grunt was more of a sob, but that was not the worst part.

His breath hitched, and there was a moment of silent shock as I pressed the seering metal to the very centre of his wound. After a second, he let out an agonized shout around the stick between his teeth, and I only stopped after counting to four. His ragged breaths came back, and I checked on him, the blade held safely away for now. I realised his hand had latched onto my shoulder again as it throbbed from where his fingers dug in with all his strength. His lidded eyes were red and wet, but he looked a little calmer now, not terrified, just exhausted. Glancing down at the skin I'd attempted to repair, I sighed with relief to see the bleeding had basically stopped. I could go on and close the rest of it, but it needed to drain at least a little.

I gently patted his other leg as I stood and took the edge of the biting stick. He let it go and nodded slightly. "Thank you." His voice didn't shake, but it was hardly stronger than a breath.

"I'll get you something to drink."

Outside, the horses stood on the side of the house that gave them the most shelter. Mateo looked at me as if to ask what the heck we were doing out here, and I eyed a nearby shell of a stable.

"Will you stay if I put you in there?"

With the two mounts happily munching on some fruit I hastily piled into somewhat useful troughs, I tied wooden slats closed around the stable gates and then rushed to bring our saddle bags and bedrolls inside.

Hoseok looked about to fall from his seat, but his back straightened slightly at my entrance. I placed the bags down beside him and crouched again. I pulled a waterskin from my bag, but not to drink. His hands still shook as he reached them out towards me, and I washed the blood away. He shivered the moment the water stopped pouring, chilled from the gaps in our shelter.

"Drink," I said, pushing the first bottle I found in my pouch into his hands. Even trembling and exhausted, he drank almost a quarter of my whisky in a few deep gulps. I took the bottle back and considered doing the same. Instead, I splashed some on his wound, once again forgoing warning. He panicked too much when he knew what was coming.

His reaction was worse than with the blade. He would have toppled from the barrel had I not steadied him.

"Sweet Christ, man!" he cursed, both hands clasping my upper arms.

"Had to be done, I'm afraid." His grip didn't relax for a few seconds, pain pulling his lips back, teeth and eyes clenched. "Kills the germs, apparently."

Hoseok panted, the agony fading from his features. "The what?"

"The things that cause infection. Festering in wounds."

"Well there you go," he sighed, and his eyes began to close. "If it wasn't so darn cold, I could fall asleep right here."

"Doesn't hurt too much?" I capped the whiskey, but he shook his head and beckoned for it back, finally releasing my arms. I figured the bottle wasn't going to last the night.

"Nothing hurts too much to sleep when you're loaded to the gunwhales."

I smirked. "Off my good whiskey, too," I half-heartedly complained as I uncapped and handed him the bottle. I stood to feed the fire then.

"Thank you," he said again, and he chuckled a moment later, a surprisingly amused sound for his state.

"What's funny?"

Hoseok was looking down at the great tear in his pants leg, half a foot of his upper thigh revealed. "I've never seen you care for anyone before. Not even Jungkook."

My brow shot up on one side at his observation. "Usually Seokjin does it." I shrugged as I searched for some food in his bag. "Lucky for you I pay attention when he does."

"I might even live," he joked with a small smile, and he seemed even more tired then. I shoved a small loaf of bread in my mouth and went to unroll our beds in front of the fire, his closer to it and mine on the other side.

"Do you want to eat anything?" I asked around chewing on the hard crust as he made to move off his stool.

"No, but thanks. I… think I just want to sleep."

"I will get us more timber," I mumbled as I turned for the door, but I spun back as I noticed him stand and almost fall. "Whoa there." I had to catch him to keep him upright, and his hands came to my sides for support.

Hoseok smiled, a little embarrassed, as he leant against me. "If you help me to the bed, I promise I won't need you again until morning."

"Of course I'll help you," I scoffed, wondering why he seemed shy about asking. I would have helped anyone in my posse who'd been stabbed in the leg. "Don't try to move about by yourself next time."

We hobbled awkwardly to the roll in front of the fire and it tested my sore thigh muscles when I lowered him down gently. My knees thumped on the wood as he reached the floor, and a long sigh escaped him and washed over me. Finally letting him go, I felt the slight warmth that had begun to sleep through his clothing leave me, and frustrating cold rushed back in. A slight hesitation to leave my crouch in front of him was the only indication that I missed that closeness. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice.

Hoseok raised the whisky to his lips and took a few more long swallows before very tenderly laying himself down. He was clearly still in pain, but nothing like earlier.

Out in the cold again, I finished my evening snack and hugged my coat closed around me. It wasn't just a little windy and snowy now, but it was beginning to look like a blizzard. It cut through my coat and trousers like I wasn’t wearing anything at all. Despite jogging and carrying another large pile of logs, I continued to freeze right up until I got back inside. Hoseok was taking another swig of whiskey, looking at least half defrosted beside the cozy fire. The heat didn't touch me until I was crouched right beside it, my boot only inches from Hoseok's head.

"I don't drink that much," Hoseok murmured, his eyes closed and expression still pained. "So I predict this will put me right to sleep for the whole night."

"Considering you've had half of it," I agreed, looking at my fire with satisfaction as it flared up over the new logs.

"Have some," he said, and his eyes opened when he passed the bottle towards me. I looked down at him and then stood up and took my fine drink for a few moments. Feeling my throat burn and my belly light on fire, I sighed with pleasure. Before handing it back, I sat myself on the bedroll beside him and drank as much as I could stand. It wouldn't knock me out, but it would keep me a little warmer.

Hoseok took the bottle back and turned onto his side, looking at me while he nursed it. His wound was looking worse than before, but only because I'd refused to close it entirely. "Where are the horses sheltered?"

"There's… somewhat of a stable out back. They will be thirsty by morning."

Hoseok didn't let that bother him. Judging by the flush on his cheeks, I assumed not a lot was going to bother him tonight. I took off my boots and hat and laid down. My back protested for a while, but the hard, even flooring was a comforting change from the patchy terrain I was used to sleeping on. I watched as snowflakes blew through the gaps in the walls above our heads. It may have been warmer in here than outside, but it didn't keep out the bone-deep chill that set in when I was lying still. I considered rearranging our sleeping positions so we could share the heat of the fire, but moving Hoseok at all right now felt cruel.

I rolled to face the rest of the tiny dark shack, kicking myself for not bringing a blanket or a stack of furs along. Even a larger coat or thicker undergarments would have made all the difference.

I heard Hoseok take another nip of whiskey followed by his teeth chattering. Instinctively, I rolled to face him, concerned. His eyebrow quirked tiredly.

"A little cold?" he asked rhetorically. I assumed my lips were blue at this point, but I wanted to make sure he was warm enough before worrying about myself.

"Would facing the fire help?" I offered, and Hoseok shook his head. "Need to face away or my eyes dry out for the next day." His voice was weak and shook just a little with his trembling.

"Maybe that would make you forget about your leg."

Hoseok breathed a laugh.

"You're going to freeze ov-v-ver there though," he said with chattering teeth.

"I have a warmer coat than you," I argued, but it didn't stop him from reaching out to the side of my bedroll. How he had to strength to drag the entire thing, me on top, towards him was beyond me. I rocked back from the sudden jerk and then lurched forward, catching myself with a hand on his shoulder.

"We can keep each other warm." He rested the whiskey bottle above his head on the floor and took my gloved hands in his. Feeling disquieted by his touch and closeness, I frowned down at our hands and considered pulling away to restore my personal space.

But then the freezing air that had surrounded me warmed. My frosted extremities tingled with feeling again. Hoseok's body was a barrier to the chill and a source of heat. I instinctively abandoned my hesitation and shuffled against him, careful not to make contact with his leg but pressing myself against his chest.

I expected him to say something as though he'd noticed my hesitation, but instead, he silently tucked my hands into the front of his coat and tilted his head down, breath puffing gently in my hair. He smelt of whisky and leather where I buried my face against his collar. That was the last thing I remembered before falling into a deep, comfortable sleep.

Hoseok stirring woke me from possibly the best sleep I'd had in my life. His arm was heavy over my waist, and my face rested against his neck, so warm it was almost stifling. Even with the fire out I didn't feel cold.

Hoseok moved his head gently, chin against my scalp, and let out an absent throaty sound. He pulled his arm away and rolled onto his back. Groggy from such a deep slumber, I didn't attempt to hold myself up. With one hand still buried in his coat, I ended up laying half on top of him, and it took a few more long breaths to really realise. Despite the cold that rushed in suddenly, I made to sit up. I rubbed my eyes and stretched my back before glancing down at him.

"Fine mornin," he croaked, but a tiny movement of his body reminded him of his leg, and his face scrunched up a little.

"Hungry now?" I asked.

Hoseok shook his head. "Thirsty though."

I twisted, stretching my back a little, and reached for the waterskin in his pouch. Luckily it hadn't frozen.

Hoseok sat up as I handed it to him and sipped gingerly, brows knitted.

After a few more long breaths I stood up with a groan to brave the snow outside to relieve myself. Just as Hoseok shuffled on the floor beside me as though to follow, I paused mid step and turned back to help him up as well.

"Thanks," he breathed, seeming embarrassed again to need help.

"How does it feel now?" I asked, somewhat to distract myself from the addictive warmth of being pressed against him.

"Better than last night," he answered. "Probably because it's frozen and numb."

I glanced down at the wound and grimaced.

"Needs to be properly cleaned, I hate to say." Hoseok whimpered at the thought. "Will you be able to ride today?"

"Don't have much choice."

Luckily, Hoseok had previously taught Zeek to lie down on command, so getting him into the saddle was not a problem. We fed the horses the last of the carrots and apples and they drank messily from the waterskins we packed for them. Hoseok was in quite a lot of pain by the time we set off.

"Strawberry or Valentine?" I enquired as we approached a fork in the road.

"I know the doctor in Valentine," he answered, so I veered Mateo towards the east road.

By the time we reached the muddy main street, Hoseok looked about to topple out of the saddle. I swung a leg over Mateo's neck to help him down. His hand clasped my shoulder and he all but fell into my arms, an agonised cry turning heads all around us. Ezekiel nudged his back almost as if to make sure he was all right. The door to the doctors burst open then, and the white-coated man bustled down the steps and into the mud with us. A lanky young man followed close behind him and took our horses reins to hitch them outside the sheriff's station.

The doctor, his white coat now muddy, rushed to help me bring Hoseok inside. Having lost all strength, Hoseok simply sagged between us, but even moving him as carefully as possible still caused cries of pain all the way up the few steps and into the surgery. I was in stock from how much pain he was in after how well he seemed this morning.

The doctor barked commands at his young apprentice, and once Hoseok was laid on a surface, I backed away to give them space. Glancing at the wound again, I noticed it had wept and stained a large patch down his ripped trousers, and I wondered why he hadn't said anything on the journey.

"What was on the blade?" The doctor begged, staring at Hoseok's wound and then at me, almost accusingly.

"On… the blade? I don't know." I searched myself for a moment, wondering if I'd picked it up before we left, and found it inside my knife pouch beside my own blade.

I handed it to the doctor who immediately raised it to his nose.

"Oleander."

I squinted for a moment, at the blade and then at him. “But isn’t that a poison for horses?”

He nodded and placed the blade down on a bench beside the surgery table. “It is. Whoever threw this was not trying to hit Mr. Jung here.”

I looked down at Hoseok who was lying still, sweating, trembling, his chest rising and falling heavily. His lidded eyes met mine, and I could tell he was as distressed as I was at the inclination that someone had tried to hurt Zeek; premeditated it even.

“He’s in good hands, mister,” the boy said reassuringly, and I glanced at him for a moment before giving a thankful nod.

“You should organise a new wardrobe for him,” the doc said as he began to wash his hands in a nearby basin. If he was attempting to relieve me of being here for what came next, I was grateful. I glanced at Hoseok and mustered a tiny smile, hoping it might help.

“I’ll be back,” I said quietly, and Hoseok closed his eyes.

Outside on the muddy road again, I waited for a two-horse wagon to pass before heading to the general store. Trotting up the steps and trying to get the image of Hoseok’s gory leg out of my mind, I did a double-take on the horse tethered out the front. It was relieving to see Denali here, but I wasn’t sure why Jungkook would be here alone. However, I suddenly realised how exhausted looking after Hoseok had made me, and I couldn’t wait to share the burden a little.

The doorbell tinkled above my head as I stepped inside, and I immediately found Jimin with my brother at the counter, the shopkeep crouched and busy with something under the bench. They faced each other slightly, Jimin leaning over it with his head tilted towards a catalogue, and Jungkook resting a leg with his hip pressed to the wood. Subtly, but not enough for me to have missed it, Jungkook’s hand retreated from where it had been resting, which I realised was loosely wrapped in Jimin’s. My brother looked spooked at my entrance, but when he realised it was me and not a stranger, he blanched. Jimin turned, having noticed Jungkook’s expression, and stood up straight when he recognised me.

“Yoongi! Where have you been?” Their expressions darkened when they noticed my state. No doubt looking an absolute mess, I wiped my gloves on my coat, but it didn’t get the blood off them.

“We encountered some trouble at Little Creek River yesterday and… Hoseok was hurt.”

They both exclaimed, looking tense as I trudged over to them. “Is he all right?” Jungkook asked, his voice high with concern.

“He’s in the surgery now.”

They exchanged panicked-looking eye-contact, and then their eyes fell back to the catalogue, probably at a loss for what to say or do. That was certainly how I felt.

“Sorry to hear about your friend,” the shopkeep said, standing with some effort and then leaning on the adjacent edge of the counter. “Was there something I could do for you?”

We all turned to him then, and I straightened to make my request.

“I’m searching for some trousers.”

“For yourself?” he enquired, and moved to the other end of the counter, standing right in front of me now. Not seeing any clothing in store, I assumed it was put away somewhere.

I looked at Jungkook, scanning him up and down for a second, and then back at the gentleman in front of me. “For someone about his size,” I clarified, beckoning my head towards my brother.

We were left alone for a few moments while he searched in another room, and I looked towards Jimin. My brow raised on one side to see him making meaningful eye contact with Jungkook, and when he noticed me watching he looked away, attempting to make an innocent face but beginning to blush instead. I didn’t need to look at Jungkook to know he was blushing as well, but I did anyway. A genuine grin threatened to spread across my face, but I just shook my head, and then the shopkeep came back inside with an armful of garments.

Thankfully Jungkook helped me pick one, and I fished in my pouch for some coins to pay with.

The younger two spent a small fortune on food, ammunition, and fishing bait, and then we headed outside to the horses. Denali was whinnying at Mateo from a block away, and he whinnied back gleefully. Letting them pine for each other a little while longer, I helped pack away the goods in Jungkook’s saddle bag. After catching a glimpse of something between Jimin and Jungkook that I clearly wasn’t supposed to, I‘d been given a tiny reprieve from my stressful situation. 

“Why do you look like you’ve been hit by a train, anyway? Did you both come here on her?” I asked Jimin, beckoning at Denali.

A sad look crossed his features as he looked at Jungkook's mare and then back at me. “Tilly and I took a fall… I’ll tell you about it later.”

Just as we finished, the three of us jumped at the cry that came from the surgery, a chilling reminder of what Hoseok was going through.

“So what happened?” Jimin pleaded, more concerned now.

I sighed and leant against the hitching post beside Denali, arms crossed over my chest.

“I don’t know who it was, but while we were on the road someone threw a knife at us, and it hit Hoseok right here,” I said, slapping my upper thigh about where my right hand naturally hung at rest. “I tried to see who it was but even through my scope there was nobody. Hoseok took off like bricks after that, straight north, so I couldn't do anything but follow him. Didn’t know if someone was trying to kill him or what. We were in the snow before we felt comfortable stopping, in the uh… old outpost there. It began to storm so we had to shelter there instead of trying to find help.”

“You didn’t get to a doctor until now?” Jungkook said, voice going high again with surprise.

I just shrugged. “We had to get the knife out, and it would have been another hour back to Strawberry or longer here. I just cauterized it as best I could and we stayed the night.”

“Those shacks are basically rubble, aren’t they?” Jimin said, incredulous. “How did you not freeze?”

Desperate not to let the warmth I felt in my cheeks to paint my face red, I rushed to explain. “We lit a rousing fire and slept in front of it, not to mention damn near finished my good bottle of dynamite.” Not to mention we slept flush up against each other, either.

We shared a few seconds of concerned eye contact again when another agnoised yelp sounded from the building next door.

“The… the strange thing is that the blade was laced with oleander,” I mentioned, my voice lower now to detract attention.

Both Jungkook and Jimin looked at me with knitted brows, no hint of anything but confusion in their eyes. “It’s a flower that’s infamously poisonous to horses. I assumed the feller who threw it made his jack, but the doc reckons he was aiming for the colt.”

“So is it poisonous to us as well?” Jimin asked, and I shrugged a little, wondering that myself.

“I don’t think it’s any good for you.” Jungkook looked as though he was itching to check on Hoseok, so I busied him instead. “Help me take the horses to the stable for some feed and water,” I said to them both, and we squelched uphill through Valentine’s muddy main street to untie Zeek and Mateo.

After giving our horses a warm, dry stall full of fresh hay and water, we made for the tavern. I hadn't eaten well in a while, so along with some bourbon, I ordered a plate of roast turkey and potatoes with cranberry sauce. Jungkook and Jimin sat either side of me, sipping gin and picking off my plate like coyotes.

There was a calming hush around us while we finished our second round of drinks. I wondered if, after all these years, it was finally sinking in with this pair that I hated their mindless chatter. However, they were probably just nervous about Hoseok.

As it crossed my mind, a frazzled but somewhat excited-looking boy pushed through the swinging doors to the tavern, and the three of us spun in time to see that it was the doctor's apprentice.

"Mister Jung is all fixed up now sirs," he chirped, and we all leapt off our stools in time, our drinks forgotten. We followed him back out into the mud, and despite hurrying next door, I didn't miss Jungkook swaying enough to need to grab onto Jimin for balance.

Inside, Hoseok sat up on the side of the table, a sheet over his legs from the waist down, and the doctor, now sans his white coat, was washing his hands again.

Looking over his shoulder, the doc said, “a welcoming party,” and smiled slightly as we filed inside behind his assistant. “You’re back in friendly company now, Mister Jung.”

I came to the side of the table to hand Hoseok the new trousers, and the exhausted but genuine smile he pointed at the doc surprised me. With a confused glance from me, the doc quickly explained.

“Oh, he’s quite sedated with laudanum right now.” That explained the serene expression. He looked like he wouldn’t have felt it if I stabbed his other leg. I was handed a small bag that clinked slightly and told that medical supplies and instructions were enclosed.

With the help of the young assistant, Hoseok dressed in the new trousers and was ready to leave. I had no idea how he’d paid for this, if he had, but we weren’t stopped from leaving, so I assumed Hoseok had some kind of tab or other agreement in this establishment as well as most of the others across the country.

Hoseok wasn’t as heavy against me as I helped him limp outside; he was putting a little weight on his injured leg now. Jungkook rushed to bring us our horses so that we didn’t have to hobble down hill through the mud. Between the three of us, we managed to hoist Hoseok into his saddle without having to ask Zeek to lie in muck, and then off we went down the main street towards camp. I stuck Mateo to Zeek’s side the whole way there, quite afraid he might simply topple off without warning. I’d had too much bourbon to deal with that.

~~~~~~~~~~

hogihogihogihogihogihogihogihogihogih plz comment


	13. Suggestive Conversation

Namjoon gif cos why not

~~~~~~~~~~

_Chapter Glossary:_

**Bronc Buster:** professional horse breaker, a natural horseman.

 **Mary:** an effeminate homosexual man.

_Seokjin's POV_

Tilly was a fighter, I had to give her that. She'd been through nasty injuries before, so she took the bullet wound in her stride like it was nothing. She ate and drank as soon as she came around from her sedation, and she limped over to Luna for some socialisation for the evening. I wasn't sure if she would ever heal enough to be ridden again, though. Knees were full of complex bones, and having a bullet pierce the joint capsule could be hard to come back from. But, while she was otherwise healthy and in good spirits, I kept my hopes up. As long as she lived, Jimin would be content. 

In the meantime he needed a new horse. I hadn't seen him ride many different horses before. He was attached to that little breton like a child to his first pony. That chilly afternoon once Jimin was tucked safely into bed, I sat inside the main house with Taehyung and Namjoon, pondering what kind of horse he'd choose next over sewing closed yet another rip in his shirt. 

Namjoon wandered in and out of his moonshine room every now and again, and Taehyung lounged on a rug by the fire, humming an old lumberjack folk song, his voice an instrument all of its own. I knew the song, and it was a pleasant tune, but some way through repairing the red tartan shirt, I dropped my hands to my lap and eyed the boy on the floor. 

"Taehyung. Why not sing a less miserable song?" 

He didn't stop humming until the end of the bar he was on, but he met my eyes, a deadpan mask showing me just how little he cared for the tragedy the song portrayed. He stopped momentarily and inspected his nails before beginning a new song. I listened with interest for a while, the tune somewhat melancholy, and eventually recognised it.

"I said _less_ miserable."

Taehyung sang his sentence in the tune of the song's slow violin. _"_ _It's a love song~"_

"It's a sad love song!"

He smiled in response. "Okay," he finally said, and after a moment of thinking, he started up a jovial tune, his deep voice mimicking the Irish ballad with chilling accuracy. 

I smiled down at my handiwork as I finished, though it was the song choice that made grin more than the sewing. He had to choose something that almost ended in tragedy, just to stir me up. I folded Jimin's shirt and placed it on the stump beside the couch, and thought for a moment about what to do for the rest of the afternoon. 

Namjoon snapped me out of my musing with a sudden addition to Taehyung's song from the other room, the door ajar enough for his voice to carry easily. 

_" And they sent him in the wars to be slain!"_ he sang along, a slightly exaggerated tone making Taehyung giggle mid-note. I rolled my eyes. 

When I got up, Taehyung rose as well and stopped the merry humming before the song had reached its conclusion. "Where are we going?"

"Oh," Namjoon suddenly said and a second later he poked his head out from behind the door. "Actually I have an errand to run in Valentine if you have nothing else to do, Jin."

I noticed Taehyung pout in the corner of my eye. He knew he'd be stuck here on guard duty if we left. 

"A trip to town sounds great," I said, and it really did. Not only could I stock up on some supplies, but I could actually interact with people other than the usual six. I also needed to get some medical supplies for Tilly to make her healing process a little smoother. 

Taehyung slunk into the bedroom and swung the door closed harder than necessary. Luckily I didn't need to go back in there before leaving, so he was welcome to his tantrum. Namjoon dusted his hands off, pulled on a coat, and off we went. 

On the road with just us, it was peaceful and carefree. Voltaire and Luna were a good pair; no competitiveness or snark, and my calm mare kept Namjoon's much more chilled-out than some of the younger horses. 

We chatted about the usual things: supplies, money, the weather, our plans, the horses, the boys. Namjoon grinned as he mentioned Taehyung's teasing of Jimin the day before. 

"He looked like he had something else to say about it, but I shut him down. His teasing gets to Jimin sometimes, I think."

I hummed in agreement. "I don't know how they lived together for so long. Being alone with either of them would drive me insane."

Namjoon laughed out loud. "Right." After a few moments of silence while we trotted south-west out of the snow, he spoke again, and there was something a little more careful about his tone, though I wouldn't have noticed it if I didn't know him so well. "You know Tae would love that," he said, his brow rising slightly on one side when I met his eyes. "If it were just the two of you." 

I breathed a laugh. "As long as he has someone to do everything for him, he's happy." 

"So anyway," Namjoon said after a pause. "I have a request." I gave him an expectant look, and he continued. "I sent Yoongi off with Hoseok because… I think we need to be cautious about him."

I felt a little surprise at that, as it was the first time he'd shown any distrust towards the horse thief. However, I knew immediately what it was about. It had been on my mind as well.

"Fitzgibbons," I said knowingly, and he hummed a yes. 

"They're associated, and she is big-time trouble, I've learnt." 

"Who is she?" Apart from having a hefty bounty and lots of spare cash, I didn't know much. 

"She's a leader of a band of women who go around rustling herds. But… not _any_ herds. They steal from old Confederate types, and others like that, I think."

"Doesn't sound so bad," I said lowly, thinking that if there was anyone who deserved to be robbed, it was probably them. 

"While they might have good intentions, they're still dangerous. They still steal and kill people who rightly don't need killin'. And every lawman in the country wants her to hang. So if Hoseok is in league with them…"

He was right, of course. "So what do you want to do about it?"

"Well," he began. "You know where the best gossip in town is, right?" 

I blinked slowly. "The saloon?"

"And you know who knows the most about women?"

I sighed disapprovingly, but once again, he was right. "Hookers."

"Hookers!" He said with enthusiasm, and I couldn't help but laugh. This was going to be interesting.

Valentine was as muddy as always, and we slowed to a walk to navigate the treacherous main street. I had hesitantly agreed to get our snooping mission completed before doing any shopping, so we stabled the horses for the afternoon and then trudged through the mud to Smithfields Saloon to have a few drinks. God knows I was going to need it. 

"Gin for you?" Namjoon asked, leaning over the bar, pun entirely intended.

"That's hilarious," I said humourlessly. "I’ll have a whiskey."

Not privy to the joke, the bartender just grunted and turned to pour our drinks. It took all of five minutes for us to be approached by a confident trio of ladies in busty dresses and colourful makeup. Closest to me, a youthful auburn-haired girl gave me a coy look from under thick lashes, and I didn't need to act to look legitimately surprised. She looked younger than myself, unlike the other two who seemed to pounce on Namjoon at the same time. The more outgoing was a curvy blonde with bright blue eyes and a wicked smile, and the other a mixed-race girl with straight black hair and piercing brown eyes. Namjoon bought them all drinks, and then subtly slipped a few dollars into my pocket. My stomach flipped.

"Shy, ain't ya?" The girl in front of me said, making me realise I hadn’t even so much as greeted her yet. She couldn't have been much over twenty. Usually not at all confronted by women—even whores—I hadn't been lost for words like this for as long as I could remember. I reminded myself not to get too distracted, no matter how classically gorgeous, petite, and willing the girl was.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing in a town like this?" I asked, finding a moment of confidence to focus on the mission. But also, I was genuinely curious. Valentine’s only charm was Cumberland Forest and The Heartlands surrounding it.

"Damn, if you ain't cute as hell!" The blonde said to Namjoon over her glass of rum, but nothing they did had my attention right then. With my back to the bar and my elbows resting on the surprisingly clean surface, the brunette felt awfully close, her fingers wrapped around a glass that looked too big for her hands. I wished I could take it all in my stride as easily as my infuriatingly charming companion, but instead I noticed everything, and it made my heart race. 

“Hmmm… how about we talk about what I’m _going_ to do…” she said slyly, and her tongue poked out to wet her lips. 

I survived another round of drinks whilst exchanging suggestive conversation, mainly by eavesdropping on Namjoon for inspiration. This wasn't only my first time in a situation of its kind. It was my first time even imagining someone in the way she portrayed herself with her lewd whispers. She can't have missed the way I gulped when she said those things, or the forced attempt at controlling my breathing. 

Namjoon and his slightly tipsy friends wandered away from the bar after a while, and he looked over his shoulder to give me a smirk. I caught his eyes and shook my head subtly. How he could do this so casually was lost on me. 

"You know," came a whisper from beside me, pulling my attention back to my current dilemma. "I'd love to go lie down, but I hate doing it alone…" 

I met her eyes as she gave a tiny pout, light brown eyes full of faux-innocence. Finding some semblance of poise, I smirked at her and allowed myself to be led up the imperial staircase and into a room. Not quite drunk enough to feel any dullness or enhanced social abilities, I scrambled for ways to slip some questions about Clementine Fitzgibbons into this… event. 

"Believe or not," she began, her confidence and lustful voice snapping my attention back to her as she wandered towards an iron-frame double bed. "I look even better naked."

Another thick gulp, but there was nothing to swallow. I had never felt this nervous before, and she was probably almost a decade my junior. I forced myself to move towards her, my boots against the hardwood sounding loud in my ears, and she bit her bottom lip while pulling the neck of her forest-green dress down over her chest, exposing herself. I hoped I didn't look as shaken as I felt. 

Seeming to know she needed to take charge, she guided me to the bed, pushed me down, and climbed onto my lap. Wasting no time, she reached between her thighs and gripped the front of my trousers, her full breasts pressed against my chest. Absolutely clueless about what to do, I let her tease me for a while, one hand holding me up on the bed and the other sliding around the back of her dress to her behind. 

She chuckled slightly, wiggling her hips. "You don't have to be so careful, sweetheart." My body was responding to her touch rapidly, and I couldn't help but moan before she had even opened my belt. "You look like you haven't been humped in a while." Her smiling tone was equally as embarrassing as it was a turn-on. Little did she know, I hadn't been 'humped' at all. 

"What is it you do, anyway, stranger?" She asked inquisitively, slender fingers working at my belt buckle. As expected, she fished for gossip. There was my opening, I thought as I gulped again. 

A quick lie allowed me to get to the point as quickly as possible. "Bounty Hunting."

"Is that so?" She moved a hand to tug at my collar, her lips slightly parted as she flicked her hair to the side and bent to kiss a trail up my neck. I shivered. "So that's what brings you to Valentine?" She hummed against my skin, and immediately followed up by sucking hard on the skin by my throat. Another moan trembled from me, and I gripped the flesh of her rear.

"Just… passing through actually," I panted as she dipped her hips to grind into my lap. "On the trail of a Fitzgibbons." 

She hummed against my neck again and then changed sides, wet kisses making my whole body tense and tremble. I slid my hand up her back and into her hair as she reached under my clothing and exposed my cock to cool air. Her hand was warm wrapped around it, and I was glad she couldn't see the war of emotions playing across my face. Despite feeling glorious and addictive, it was so uncomfortably intimate; even more so than I expected. A low moan rumbled in my throat from the things she did to me with her fingers, and I managed to control my expression before she pulled back to look at me again. 

That confident grin on spit-shone lips lasted only a second before she spoke again. "Every man and his dog is after that woman." Her voice carried a tone of respect, and it quickly became clear how she felt about the rustler. "If you want my advice, I think you better find a new cat to chase."

I tried not to get lost in pleasure—or anxiety, as they built up in equal measure during the ordeal. "S-so you've heard of her…?"

"More than heard of her. She's a hero to girls like me." The reverence in her voice made me curious. While hot spikes of pleasure shot outwards from my groin, I wasn't sure how much more I was going to be able to get out of her. 

I opened my mouth to reply, but a trembling moan came out instead. We shared hot, hurried breaths, her lips just ghosting over mine as though teasing. I refrained from bucking my hips into her hands, but only just. 

"I thought- _ngghh-_ that she was a h-horse thief," I managed to say.

"She's a lot more than that," she began, slowing her hand to stroke lazily now, just as I felt about to tip over the edge. "She gives us a place, you see. Defends us."

"Us as in-?" I asked, not wanting to call her anything offensive. 

She smirked. "Women without a man to care for 'em." 

I hummed, or more like groaned, sweat making the ends of my hair damp. "How charitable."

"Just because she rides without any men to defend her, Hunters think they can overpower her. But none have yet."

Gritting my teeth, I tried to focus on her words, having to run them through my mind a few times for any meaning to sink in.

"She rides without a single man?" I huffed, feeling heat creep all through me. I watched thoughts cross her face, pretty lips twisting slightly as she took my bait.

"Occasionally I've seen men there. Trading goods or… maybe buying horses. And she has a feller friend, real bronc buster and a total Mary; looks a bit like you."

Suddenly, I stumbled on gold. That is, if looking like me was a reference to race. Hoseok was the best 'bronc buster' I'd ever heard of, so that checked out. But 'a total Mary?' If she indeed meant Hoseok, I'd learnt something new about him today.

She continued, and her hands swapped to give her right arm a rest. "But he doesn't stick around," she finished. That sure sounded like Hoseok.

I moaned in response to her movements again, her left hand picking up with renewed vigor. I was not going to last much longer.

"Lie back sweetheart; I wanna take it for a ride," she said with too much self-assurance, and I realised I didn't want that at all. My body did, if the sudden shudder that spread through me was anything to go by, but I had what I came here for now, and I didn't want to drag it on much longer.

I felt like I was red all over, not just burning with a primal desperation I couldn't control, but also nauseated from feeling so apprehensive. 

A noise I should have recognised right away made her turn to face behind her, and through the muddled haze that was my thoughts, I eventually realised our room's door had been opened, and promptly closed only seconds afterwards. I thought I heard Namjoon's voice, and it made me sit up a little more, alarmed.

Avoiding eye-contact, I righted my clothing as the pretty young brunette slid off me, and when I closed my belt I noticed she'd covered herself fully again as well. Arms crossed under her bosom, she eyed me with one side of her brow raised. I stood, clearing my throat, feeling slightly less uncomfortable than a moment ago.

"You're in a hurry to follow your friend," she observed, and I handed her whatever cash Namjoon had given me earlier. The look that crossed her youthful features showed it was a lot more money than what she expected. 

"He's the boss," I sighed, hoping I could make myself look somewhat normal upon leaving the room. I hesitated, having no idea how to make an exit without seeming rude.

"Come find me if you wanna wet your pecker next time, handsome," she said, looking me up and down one last time before I gave a courteous nod and rushed out as naturally as I could with blazing cheeks and tenting trousers. 

Back in the crisp, fresh air of Valentine's main street, I approached Namjoon on the steps of the general store. He met my eyes for the briefest moment, and I could tell he was trying not to let me see him smile. We shopped for a while, Namjoon buying booze and snacks and me making intelligent purchases like fishing bait, loaves of bread, bandages, soap, and other miscellaneous essentials. I finally began to feel something like normal again by the time we paid and left the store. 

We packed our saddle bags and mounted up to make our way home again, and it began to snow before the sun had set over Mount Shann to the west. I suffered through a quarter of an hour of Namjoon's subtly amused expression bottled-up snorts before I cracked.

"Okay, what?" I snapped at him, and Luna raised her head, picking up on my mood. 

Suddenly Namjoon lost it, exploding with laughter in a way he didn't often. He slapped his thigh with one hand, other attempting to hold the reins steady while his whole body shook. I waited impatiently while he got that out of his system, a grimace pointed right at him. 

He met my eyes for a second, seeming somewhat composed and about to speak, but then he giggled and snorted. A few moments later he could finally breathe again. 

"When I asked you to question the girl about Hoseok, I actually meant _question_ her," he said, voice still brimming with the potential to break into laugher at any moment. 

"I did!" I defended, but his chest shook with more laughing. "Why? What's so funny?"

He shook his head slightly, wiping his eyes. "The way I caught you, it was not at all what I was expecting." His amusement was frustrating. "You see, I just told them that I would pay them for some information. Those ladies love that kind of work. You didn't _actually_ have to knock boots with her." 

I felt my stomach twist. I didn't vocalise any of the curses that came to mind. Even more annoying was that he seemed to know I hadn't enjoyed it.

"Anyway. At least you got the prettiest one." 

I groaned, rubbing both eyes with my palms.

"Learn anything useful?" he asked, finally giving me a break. 

"Yeah, actually. I reckon Hoseok has the same kinda relationship with Fitzgibbons as he does with us."

Namjoon's expression darkened. "Yeah?" 

"Mmm. She sure knew of him, said he was the in and out kind… comes and goes and is friends with Fitzgibbons."

"She knew him by name?"

"No, but she called him a 'bronc buster,' said he 'looks like you,' and… well she called him a 'Mary' as well."

Namjoon nodded. "Couldn't really be anyone else."

I felt my brow pinch, and I tilted my head questioningly. "Hoseok fancies men?"

Namjoon nodded at me slightly, small nods with his chin tipped up a little while he thought about something else. "I've only ever known him to keep male company." 

"So how long have you known him? And you're only now questioning his integrity?"

Namjoon finally came back from his deep thought and looked into my eyes for a few seconds. "Many years, but I never knew he was associated with a notorious gang. Makes me wonder what else he does that we don't know about."

"What did you learn then? Anything useful?"

"Mm. They knew Hoseok, which I deferred from them knowing Lady. Described her down to the last detail and said she was their favourite horse. They seemed to know little about him except that he was around occasionally, there in Valentine and at the rustler camp. It seems a lot of whores spend time with Fitzgibbons."

"Right. She has the cash to support them."

Namjoon sighed, a long moment of quiet passing between us before he eyed me again, and meeting his gaze made him break into quiet wheezing laughter again. I was never going to live this down.

  
  
~~~~~~~~~~

I apologise for this


	14. Doped Up

Just in case anyone wanted to know how adorably tiny Yoongi and Mateo are beside Namjoon and Voltaire...

~~~~~~~~~~

_Chapter Glossary:_

**Ring in:** to force or insinuate oneself onto company where one is not wanted or does not belong.

 **Tendsome:** requiring much care/attendance.

_ Yoongi’s POV  _

By the time we arrived at our winter hideout, Hoseok looked like he could really use a break from the saddle. We'd taken it slow, so the sun had set before we arrived. Thankful for my coat as snow began to fall, I sighed with relief to be finally about to head inside a warm building. Jungkook seemed to juggle helping Jimin, helping Hoseok, and taking our horses to the barn all at once, and I took over Hoseok once we were inside. He was heavier again now, probably not quite as high on painkillers as a few hours ago. 

Namjoon and Seokjin had been conversing at the table over the usual trimmings and stew, but they leapt up at our struggling entrance. 

"What in God's name happened to you?" Namjoon asked Hoseok, especially confused as his injury was neatly dealt with and covered by spotless new pants. 

"He was stabbed last night… long story." I wasn't in the mood for explaining the whole thing again, and Hoseok didn't seem capable of much more than groaning in pain as an explanation. Jimin began rattling on about what had happened, telling it as he'd heard it from me, but I interrupted briefly, standing uncomfortably with our heavy friend hanging off my side. 

"Uh, where do you want him?" I asked.

"There's a spare bed in that room," Seokjin said, beckoning towards where he, Taehyung, and Namjoon slept. 

"It's broken, that's why I sleep in the top one," Namjoon explained. "Take the mattress into your room, Yoongi."

Obediently but not without a scowl, I helped Hoseok hobble into the room I had claimed and set him down on the only single bed. He sighed with relief, expression calm for a few moments. I left him there and went to haul in a makeshift bed from the next room over, and then arranged it against the wall we shared with the other three. 

"You stay there," I said to him as he moved almost as though to get up. "It'll be easier for you to get up from the bed than the floor." As I said it, I came to help him get comfortable. Busying my hands helped distract me from thinking about the situation I was now in. Would Hoseok stick around here until he was healed? Sleeping in this room with me? I gulped, helping him take off his boots and pull back the bed covers. 

"Are these your blankets?" He asked, concern outweighing the pain on his face. 

"We have plenty," I assured him, but he seemed uncomfortable with that. 

"Don't let me put you out, will ya?" 

I shook my head, glancing at his worried expression for just a moment. "Just get some sleep."

I left the door ajar on my way out and then went to help Jungkook unpack the saddle bags and prepare the horses for the night. Taehyung returned from scouting and stabled Frost. Together he and Jungkook filled me in about what happened to Jimin and Tilly, and by extension the Laramie Gang encounter. 

"We've been getting too comfortable holed up here," I said when they were finished explaining. "We need to be ready to leave at the drop of a hat in case one of these gangs we keep pissin' off decides to come down on us like a tonne of bricks."

Jungkook looked a little annoyed. "You don't think we can defend this place?" 

"I don't know." I finished brushing sweat from Zeek's coat, knowing Hoseok would be in no shape to pamper him any time soon, and then took his and Mateo's leads to shelter them out in their shed. "But there'd be nothing more stupid than hiding in wooden houses if a bunch of bandits with moltovs and dynamite want you dead."

With the horses tethered and fed, I hurried through the settling snow to get inside and eat. Seokjin was by the fire ready to serve us our portions. 

"I took some in for Hoseok but he was passed out," he said as I approached. "So you take this and make sure the kids leave some for him."

Seokjin had clearly used some kind of exotic spices in today's dinner, and it warmed me so well from the inside out that I shed my coat before I'd finished. Jimin, Jungkook, and Taehyung all did the same as they ate, making Seokjin and Namjoon chuckle from their seats at the table. We decided the spices were a worthy investment. 

It was already late by the time we all finished, and I lingered in the main room with everyone else for a lot longer than usual. Namjoon was helping Jimin whittle something at the table, Seokjin was all over the place probably tidying or preparing tomorrow's food, and Jungkook and Taehyung laid head to head by the fire chatting and giggling. As much as I wanted to sleep, I was hesitant to go back into that room alone with Hoseok, even if he was sleeping. So hesitant, in fact, that I drifted off right there on the couch and had to be woken by Seokjin some time later. 

"You'll mess up your back sleeping like that; get to bed," he whispered, already wandering away towards the other bedroom. I blinked awake and noticed everyone else had retired already. Groaning as I forced myself out of the warm comfort of the couch, I realised it was much colder now, and took my coat in with me as I snuck through the slightly ajar door. Closing it gently, I eyed the lump under the covers. Hoseok was still unconscious it seemed, which made it easier to creep to the mattress on the floor, shrug into my coat, and climb under the old dusty blankets I'd found in the other room. Luckily I was exhausted enough that sleep was only moments away, but that didn't spare me from vivid dreams.

First light came too soon. I woke feeling groggy and stiff, not to mention freezing cold. I hardly had a moment to open my eyes before I was suddenly taken over by a sneezing fit, and I shoved the irritating dusty blankets out of my face. Finally, after making myself dizzy, I heard a low, pained groan from beside me and whirled around with surprise. I forgot until then that Hoseok was there, and it occurred to me that I probably woke him. 

He looked hot and uncomfortable when he stirred enough for me to see his face, and when he opened his eyes it was only for a moment. I rolled to get up and shuffled my feet towards his saddlebags on the floor to find the medical instructions, hoping there wasn't something in there I should have read last night before we slept. Shivering, I pulled out the notes left by the doc and scanned over them. He was due for more laudanum around about now, and it was recommended to change his wound dressing. There was also a herbal mixture he needed to take with each meal to help counteract the oleander poisoning, which meant he should have had some last night. I hoped that he wouldn't suffer because I'd forgotten. 

"Tell me I can have some of the good stuff," Hoseok breathed from beside me, and I nodded, glancing down at his pained expression while reaching into the bag for a vial of the opiate. 

I cleared my throat before attempting to speak, but my voice still came out husky. "You need to eat, too." Hauling himself up to sit against the headboard, he was clearly unwell, skin clammy and arms shaking. I gulped and quickly handed him the vial. "Just half of it," I directed, and Hoseok swigged it down thankfully. "Can you eat anything?" I asked, taking the vial back to pack it away. 

After a long sigh and some thought, Hoseok nodded, sweaty hair sticking to his forehead. The door opened quietly and revealed a concerned-looking Taehyung then, and we both looked up at him. 

"Good to see you awake," he said to Hoseok, a tiny smile on his lips. "How are ya?"

Hoseok smiled back weakly. "I feel a million bucks."

"You look it." Taehyung carried a plate of bread and dried salted meat to the bed and handed it gently to me. "Jin said to make sure he eats."

Hoseok grinned a little wider. "So it's not just Yoongi fussin'."

I fought down the heat rising to my cheeks and shot him a slight stink eye. 

Taehyung chuckled at my expense. "You must've done something to him."

I placed the plate down at Hoseok's side where he could reach it and bailed. "I'm getting breakfast."

Taehyung stayed to chat with Hoseok for a while. So chilled now that my teeth were chattering, I went straight to the fire and sat myself down beside Jungkook on the rug. 

"Mornin'. How's Hoseok?" he asked, and Jimin on the other side looked over interestedly as well. Jimin's bruises were a different shade of blue and purple today, and the cuts decorating his skin were no less red and angry. It made him look a lot tougher than he was. 

"Not well, but still smiling somehow." 

Jimin nodded, chewing on some honeyed bread. "Would take a lot for him not to." 

I finished the can of delicious syrup on some buttered bread as Seokjin came over to the fire as well, warming his hands over Jimin's head while he addressed me. "Good job getting him through the night. And Jimin said he was poisoned?" His expression was curious and concerned.

"Yeah, makes me think someone was after Zeek, or even Mateo, and not actually Hoseok or me."

"Because it was Oleander… better that it didn't hit a horse, really. They wouldn't have survived it."

Seokjin may have been right about that, but I still felt sick to my stomach thinking about Hoseok injured and poisoned, especially while still haunted with images of his blood on my hands and bruises from his painful grip on my shoulder. 

"Needs the bandage changed, and to take some more medicine after he eats… but I figured I'd let the laudanum kick in first." 

Seokjin didn't miss the way I rushed through my explanation, and I almost managed to avoid the reserved suspicion in his eyes. I wasn't going to explain anything to him, that was for sure. Not the queasy feeling I got from having to play nurse, nor the general confused anxiety I felt around Hoseok these days. Let him wonder. 

"I'll fix him up," Seokjin said after he finished making a face at me. "But you should help so you learn." With no good reason coming to mind in time to refuse, I simply chose not to respond, but I figured he knew me well enough to know that I would comply. 

Taehyung emerged from the room after a while holding the empty plate. "Turns out he had quite the appetite."

"That's a damn good sign, as long as he keeps it down," Seokjin said as Taehyung passed him to pile the plate carelessly with the other dishes. Taehyung looked about to plonk down with a book at the table when Namjoon walked out of his Moonshine room and hooked a finger in the younger's collar. 

"Nuh-uh, it's bath day." 

Taehyung groaned and turned to whine at Namjoon. "But it's freezing!"

"The hot springs are amazing," Jungkook countered. 

"And it smells like a barn in here," Seokjin added. 

"Jimin, do you want to stay with Hoseok or come as well, since you bathed recently?" 

I watched disinterestedly as Jungkook leant against Jimin and sniffed at the back of his neck. The elder bunched his shoulders, tipped his head back, and giggled like a child.

"He stinks, he has to come too," Jungkook proclaimed. "Since I have to sleep with him."

Jimin spun and fake punched Jungkook a few times, starting a tickling match that ended in Jimin cringing in pain from his injuries and the rest of us laughing at him. 

"Yoongi, let's take care of that wound before I take these ruffians to Cotorra."

I assumed I was being left to guard the place which was fine by me. A little peace and quiet would do me good, even if it involved being out in the snow.

"Good morning," Seokjin said as he entered my room ahead of me. Hoseok was looking slightly more alive now, skin a little more pink, and sweat no longer plastering his hair to his head. 

"Jin, thanks for breakfast," Hoseok said, a genuine smile lighting up his face. He moved to sit upright even more, not wincing this time. "Both of my saviours here at once; I must've died and gone to heaven." 

I grimaced.

"I was just telling Yoongi how impressed I was with his care of you. Very impressed indeed." Seokjin pulled an old wooden chair from the corner of the room and sat himself beside Hoseok. "Probably saved your life."

"Don't get too excited," I mumbled, resting a leg by the end of the bed with my arms crossed defensively. Hoseok managed to drag my eyes to his, and his expression was quite careful then, as usual of late, but he kept his smile as he looked back at Seokjin.

"Are you here to poke and prod at me? Cos I'm all doped up, so it's a good time."

Seokjin nodded. "I am, I'm afraid. I hope you're not shy, because I'm going to ask you to take yer pants off." 

Hoseok chuckled. "Most folk don't bother askin'."

I squinted at Seokjin as he was overcome with an uncharacteristically surprised laugh, though it wasn't long lasted, and he managed to right himself quickly with his cheeks dusted pink. He helped Hoseok out of his new cottons, and relievingly he wasn't entirely exposed, as the doc had only removed the affected leg of his undergarments. 

"You must have one leg colder than the other," Seokjin observed out loud, and Hoseok hummed. 

"I don't think I even noticed, to be honest."

The bandage had been mostly bled through, and as Seokjin unwrapped it, I noticed patches of skin looked oddly discoloured around the wound. 

"This is from the oleander, Yoongi," he said, pointing to the purplish skin. "It's quite minor. I think you burnt most of it away." I came closer until I could clearly see. The doc had cut out most of the burnt flesh and stitched it closed, so it looked a lot neater now, but it made me feel a little lightheaded nonetheless. It was something about knowing how much it hurt that got to me where shooting dead an animal or aggressive stranger didn't. 

A smile spread across Seokjin's face as he looked between Hoseok and me. "You two have the exact same expression right now," he said in a tone that made me want to punch him. Hoseok glanced up at me, and yeah, that's probably how my face looked. Slightly disgusted but morbidly curious. I felt a grin threaten at the corners of my lips when he smiled with amusement, but I looked back at the medical bag instead. He sure had an infectious smile.

"Teach me how to wrap a bandage or I'm leaving."

Seokjin sighed. "No sense of humor, as usual."

I watched his skillful hands dab at the wound with a rag that was damp with medical grade alcohol supplied by the doctor. Hoseok felt it through his drugged haze and winced through the entire ordeal. 

"You can do his bandages from now on, Yoongi, so pay attention." 

I glared at the side of Seokjin's head, but I figured he knew not to give me the satisfaction of seeing it. He carefully but firmly wrapped Hoseok's thigh from the wound downwards and back up again, and then up above the wound so high that Hoseok felt the need to cup a hand over his groin. It made them both grin. Honestly, sometimes I had to wonder if I was the only normal person in the world. 

Tying the bandage tightly at the end of its length, he sat back and admired his handiwork before looking up and me. 

"Easy, right?"

I sighed. "Sure."

"Okay, I'm taking these kids for their baths. We'll try to be back by noon." I took the medical bag from him as he sauntered out on a mission and tuned him out when he started chirping commands at the others.

"Thanks, I… I really owe you," Hoseok said, the light-hearted air about him becoming slightly stale with Seokjin gone. It tugged at my heart just a little. However less cheerful, he was genuinely thankful.

"I told you it's nothing. You would've done the same for me." My voice trailed off as I went to the mattress on the floor to gather the bed covers, and Hoseok laughed a little.

"I would have tried…"

"Well," I said, arms full of dusty blankets that threatened to make me sneeze again. "At least now you know how to save the next one of us who gets stabbed." I escaped the stifling confines of the room then, frustrated with how he made me feel. 

The day passed too slowly. I beat the blankets until years and years of collected dust finished raining out of them, then I hung them in the sun to help remove old, stuffy odours. I let the stallions wander and graze for a few hours, glad that Lady was in the barn with Tilly to keep her company. After dusting my clothes off, I went to fetch my rifle, pistol, and revolver for a routine clean. After that, I raided Seokjin's supplies for leather polish and treated my gunbelt, holster, and chaps, then went to do my saddle and bridle as well. Even having had a short, restless sleep, I couldn't bare not to keep busy. 

Just about out of productive things to do, I was relieved when everyone else arrived home. It looked like Seokjin had even managed to wash some clothing. I greeted Namjoon as he walked his mare up to me and seemed to have something to say.

"You want to wash? I'll go with you."

"Oh… no, I'll pay for a bath in town sometime." 

"Now? I have some things to discuss with you is all."

My brows spiked for a moment, and I shrugged. "Why not. I'll tack up Mateo."

Back towards Valentine we rode at a steady trot. A few miles from the farm he explained what he had been doing the day Hoseok and I left for Hanging Dog Ranch.

"Seokjin and I enquired in town and found out that Hoseok's quite close with that thievin' gang leader Fitzgibbons."

I shot him a curious look. "You asked around about Hoseok?"

He seemed surprised at my reply. "Well… we asked some uh… ladies. And yes, I needed to know if he was in leagues with a dangerous gang if he's going to keep doing business with us."

"Ladies, huh?" I jabbed, having a hard time seeing Namjoon or Seokjin casually chatting with women in town. Though my joking was mostly a cover up for how much I didn't want to talk or think about Hoseok. 

"Prostitutes, Yoongi. Are you happy now?" 

"Yes, thank you. How did that go?"

Namjoon seemed to think about that for a moment, and then suddenly he laughed, the kind of laugh you do when you remember something hilarious and you need a moment to control yourself. 

"So… if I asked you to question some ladies with me in the tavern, what would you do?"

I sighed, vaguely unimpressed with his tactic of storytelling considering it involved me having to make an effort. 

"I'd pretend to be seduced until we made it to a room, and then explain I just wanted information, then pay her, I guess."

Namjoon nodded, beckoning with his free hand. "Right! That's what I assumed anyone would do."

"Oh… what did Seokjin do?" I suddenly liked where this story was going. 

"He-" Namjoon began, but he was cut off by his own giggles, and he had to cover his face for a moment. "I think he was actually a little smitten with her—pretty doe-eyed thing she was—and I don't really know what happened exactly, but… it was a lot more than talkin'."

I felt a scandalised expression cross my face. "No… Seokjin?"

"Yeah, and I don't even think he had a good time… he came out looking a damn mess, feathers all ruffled like."

I laughed with him for a few moments. "God damn, that's filthy." I had never expected any of us to get so desperate we turned to prostitutes, but even less did I expect Seokjin to let one… do anything to him. Whatever they did, I didn't really want to know. 

As we steered the mares to the hitching posts in front of Smithfields Saloon, Namjoon picked up where he went off topic. "So, I just wanted to see if you knew anything else about Hoseok and the Fitzgibbons gang."

"I don't," I said with finality, taking my money pouch from Mateo's saddle bag and tying it on my belt. 

"Why so defensive?" 

I grimaced, turning towards the hotel across the muddy street. "I'm not."

Namjoon trotted up the front steps of the saloon. "Just remember who your friends are, Yoongi," he said, and I rolled my eyes, pushing the door open into the hotel. 

We arrived back at camp around twilight. It hadn't begun to snow yet, the day just a little warmer than it had been in the past month, but it was shaping up to be a freezing night. I patted Mateo's fuzzy fur after feeding him and Zeek and then rushed inside with Namjoon to escape the bitter evening air. 

As usual, a delightfully warm fire was crackling away inside with a stew pot omitting tantalising smells that promised another spicy meal. Usually disinterested in who was around me, I didn't notice Taehyung was missing until he came in through the back door with a limping Hoseok held to one side. 

"It's fucking freezing tonight," Taehyung said, helping Hoseok around the furniture. I eyed the empty couch for a moment, but I realised before attempting to take it that it had been reserved for the cripple. No matter how cold, I went to sit at the table. To my delight, and open bottle of rum was left sitting on one edge, and I helped myself. Fire was only one way to stay warm. Rum would also help me fall asleep earlier and stay that way for the whole night. 

There was joyous chatter around the fire while our supper finished cooking, but I was content ignoring it and sipping at this fine bottle. Thankfully, nobody disturbed me. I was brought a generous portion of steaming stew at some point, and I made sure to get most of the way drunk before finishing my dinner and retiring for the night. Just as planned, I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow, and—as was a recurring theme of late—I dreamt of Hoseok.

Days were long and maddening when I was guilted into caring for Hoseok at every turn. "Change his bandage," "get him his medicine," "bring him breakfast," chimed Seokjin all day every day. Exasperated by the way his closeness made me feel, I managed to make Hoseok even more uncomfortable with me. 

By the end of his first week healing in our camp, he had apparently had enough of me. "I'm sure Taehyung could benefit from learning some of this too… or Jungkook." His voice was uncharacteristically soft when we were alone. 

I tied off his bandage, more confident every day with how my skills were developing, and then looked up to meet his eyes. "Most likely. But you're almost healed, right?" 

By the way he nodded and moved to pull his trousers back on, I assumed he'd taken that as though I was hoping this would be over soon; hoping he would leave. Part of me definitely was. The tension between us was thick enough to cut with a knife, and even the others had noticed it. The most confusing part was why he hadn't just said something to me if he was so inclined to act like there was something coming between us. He never smiled at me with anything but politeness anymore, and we didn't chat or joke. Just as I began to trust him and enjoy his company, he had drifted away from me. 

"I'll be out of your hair before you know it," he said, a token friendly grin pulling up his lips on one side but not touching his eyes. 

"Stay as long as you want," I forced myself to say. I couldn't make it sound genuinely affectionate like Seokjin always did, or carefree and casual like Jimin and Jungkook would have. But I said it, and it stopped him in his tracks as he went to get up from the bed. I met his eyes, placing his medical supplies in their usual drawer beside the bed. "You're not burdening us, you know."

A relieved smile fluttered on his lips, his eyes showing some of the surprise he was clearly feeling, and it moved me in ways I chose to ignore. "I… just hate to ring in on y'all like this, y'know…" 

"You're not." I helped him stand, forcing down a tingly feeling where his hand was against mine. 

"I know I've been tendsome for you this past week…" He looked towards the floor while testing out his leg, his fingers shooting sparks down my wrists that made me wish he'd let go. "But really, it feels a damn sight better. I seriously owe you my life."

I made a dismissive sound, somewhere between too lazy to tell him yet again that that was ridiculous, and utterly distracted with forcefully ignoring the little things his touch did to my body. Luckily he was up for walking unassisted, especially high on Laudanum. 

Over breakfast, Hoseok tentatively brought up his plan to offer Ezekiel as a trade to the Wapiti tribe just north-east of here. I didn't even need to jump in and justify his plan, because everyone was totally supportive. Despite the positive reaction, Hoseok was still on the edge of his seat. We made the swift decision to go investigate today since Hoseok was eager to get back in the saddle. The sooner we knew whether or not it was an option, the sooner we could be rid of the horse and have space to take another. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Please leave a comment! Who do you want to see more/less of in the fic? What are you liking/disliking? What kind of ending do we want? <3


	15. Heart Full of Hope

Gif is Jungkook on his pretty mare Denali in Valentine! You can see the mud on her legs XD

~~~~~~~~~~

_ Chapter Glossary: _

**Sparking:** Courting, hitting on, flirting with. 

  
  


_ Jimin's POV _

With winter here now, I tried to spend as much time indoors as possible, but it never really worked out the way I wanted. Namjoon seemed to have constant missions for us, and even injured I wasn't exempt from scout duty. Standing in the snow by myself in four layers of clothing, I cursed every living thing for the whole night shift, and then dashed back to the cabin just before dawn to start the fire and climb into a warm bed. Every time I did, Jungkook would groan sleepily at my frozen body disrupting his slumber, but within seconds he was curling against me, breathing deeply as though I'd never woken him. Sometimes it took a while to sleep, no matter how exhausted I was, because even while unconscious, he was utterly distracting. 

If I hadn't been paying incredibly close attention, I wouldn't have noticed much of a change in Jungkook since that night when we finally discussed our friendship; when I braved taking it one step further. There were changes though, gradually, and it took every bit of restraint I had not to let myself get excited about them. When we were alone he became touchy, beginning a while ago with just sitting or standing closer and developing over time into taking my hand and either holding it gently in his or fiddling with my fingers as though it was nothing. It was about as 'nothing' as the erratic heartbeat I had to pretend he wasn't causing with his newfound habits. But, if there was anything I didn't want to do, it was push him past his comfort zone. We'd been too uncomfortable before all of this, and there was nothing worse. 

Waking at noon alone in the cabin was sometimes a blessing, because I wasn't always in the mood to wake up with Jungkook's backside nestled against my crotch. The minutes between my waking and his were arduous, and it was always better just to wake up alone to save myself the torture. On the morning after Tilly’s injury, waking up beside a slightly hungover Jungkook had been pleasant. He was just a little slower, just a little less vibrant. Just enough that it gave me a much-needed break from sweet, touchy Jungkook. We rose to start the day and joined Seokjin's production line of cutting, buttering, and honeying bread for breakfast. He always seemed so surprised when we helped out.

I made sure Jungkook drank plenty of water with his breakfast, even if his youthful body seemed to handle a night of boozing much too well. Yoongi looked like he hadn't slept at all when he emerged from the room he’d shared with our horse rustler friend last night. It was good to hear Hoseok was doing well, but I wondered what had happened to give such a good sleeper a bad time. Maybe Hoseok snored.

At the mention of heading back to Cotorra Springs, I envisioned the hot water enveloping me and almost swooned. I almost couldn’t wait for Seokjin to finish bandaging Hoseok. He seemed to have other plans when he emerged from the room however, and I groaned at his suggestion to take my stitches out before we bathed. At least I knew it wouldn't take long. 

Once that was over, Jungkook and I went to the barn to get Denali ready, and I checked on Tilly. She was snoozing when we entered, and I could tell Jin had already cared for her this morning. Somehow, despite her injury, she looked at me with bright eyes and pricked ears, and it tugged at my heart yet again. Leaving her with a few treats and multiple smooches on the nose, I went to Denali as Jungkook finished tacking up. 

“Fuck it’s cold,” I grumbled, already chilled after a few minutes away from the fire. 

“Are you wearing enough?” Jungkook asked, and he took his hand from Denali’s girth to my arm, rubbing my bicep as though I’d feel it through the layers. 

“Apparently not.”

“It will get better when we’re there. The springs will get you plenty warm.” He looped the reins over her head and continued in a lower tone. “If seeing me naked doesn’t do it for you already.” His eyes flicked to mine after that, a mischievous grin showing his teeth, and I struggled to pick my jaw up off the floor as he led the golden mare into the courtyard. 

Although only a short ride, I suffered the lingering effects of Jungkook's unwarranted comment for the entire journey, and he was right; just thinking about seeing him naked set my skin on fire. I thought better of holding onto his waist while seated on Denali's rump, and used my legs to steady myself instead. By the time we reached the sulfurous smell and hot air, I was plenty warm enough, even on such a freezing morning that my extra layers hadn't previously been enough. 

Seokjin and Namjoon decided to take it in turns to bathe so that one of us was ready if something were to threaten us. Namjoon stayed mounted on Voltaire as we slid off our horses and rushed to undress, and he took her for a canter around the springs to use up some of her boundless energy. Having picked a pool quite far from the road, Jungkook and Taehyung joked about something I didn't hear while distracted by the glimpse I got of the younger's stark white behind. Seokjin seemed absorbed in his own little world, distributing small chunks of fragrant soap and a worn body brush to share if we wished, and then returning to the opposite bank where he'd climbed in, his clothes folded neatly upon his boots. 

Taehyung seemed torn between lingering via the stoic-looking Seokjin or hanging by Jungkook, and eventually, after beginning to scrub soap up his arms, he turned and waded towards the elder. That left Jungkook just a foot to my right, now undistracted and turning his attention to me. Like in the past, he gestured for me to turn around so he could wash my back. Unlike in the past, just thinking about his touch sent a hot throb to my groin, and I was glad to be facing away from the others while I battled to keep such feelings hidden. 

After his unexpected teasing earlier, I was sure Jungkook had to know what he was doing to me. At least the pleasure of the soapy brush against my back was of an unrelated kind, and I focused on that as much as I could. Jungkook moved to my side and scrubbed at my arm, and then paused, looking at my chest as he moved around in front of me. Amongst everything else going on in my mind—and my body, which I tried to ignore—I'd briefly forgotten about the state of my skin under all the layers I'd been wearing. 

"It's all right," I said to him, swiping some water over my chest to show I wasn't in total agony to the point where I couldn't wash. It hurt my wounds a little, but the warm water also felt amazing. And, I wasn't going to pass up a chance to have him touching me, as much as it almost caused heart failure. 

Acutely aware of our company, I didn’t let myself watch him like I wanted to, but that didn’t stop him watching me. Where it didn’t sting and ache, his hands left scalding trails, his fingers feeling electric as they dipped below my navel. I had to catch his wrist then, not risking a chance at him going any lower, and I heard him gulp just before a grin spread across his lips.

“Your turn,” I said sharply, spinning him around and taking the brush from his hands. I could feel that he was still grinning, but I was faced with a new issue with his bare back in front of me. Reminding myself that I was a grown man and I wasn’t going to spontaneously combust if I touched his bare skin, I set to work, struggling to regulate my breathing, the strong curves and deep lines of his muscled back shining with water and soap as I scrubbed him clean. He maintained his cheeky grin, although subtle, as I scrubbed the rest of him, rushing a little so that it would be over before I couldn’t control myself anymore. 

“Jungkook, throw me yours and Jimin’s clothes,” Taehyung called from down the bank a little, crouched in a narrow section of the hot spring so that he was barely decent. I retreated a little as Jungkook turned to do as asked. Taehyung and Seokjin scrubbed our clothing while Jungkook and I moved to a less soapy part of the pool to dip our heads under and scrub our hair clean. The water stung the cuts on my face, and as much as I tried not to taste it, I found it a little unpleasant when it got in my mouth. Though, that may have been the soap. Finally clean, I let myself tread water in a deeper section, needing at least six feet between Jungkook and myself if I ever wanted to feel any vague sense of calm again. I made for the shore after a little while of relaxing and grabbed a brush to give my legs and feet a scrub. Jungkook did the same, only glancing over at me for a moment after watching Namjoon and Seokjin trade places in the spring. 

The way Jungkook looked at me then made me stare. No longer mischievous but full of sweet, innocent joy; the kind of expression I felt downright privileged to have directed at me. It made my heart thud and race in a different way to before, and if we had been alone, nothing would have stopped me from kissing him. By the time he dropped his eyes to the water looking adorably shy, I felt calmed and reassured that we were at least somewhat on the same page about our feelings for each other.

Seokjin had, intelligently, packed a clean set of clothes to redress in, so he was free to finish washing and hanging up all of our clothes to dry. I had another shirt somewhere, and another pair of gloves, but I was most comfortable in my usual outfit, and clothes didn't come cheap. If I was financially comfortable enough to pay for a few new outfits, I wouldn't be here bathing in hot springs for free. 

In the balmy winds blowing around the springs, it took less than half an hour for our outfits to dry. Seokjin ushered us to vacate our warm sanctuary after that, and we dressed in time to be decent and on the horses when the first traveller all morning passed us on the road.

Back at the farm, I slid off Denali's rump and followed her into the barn. Seokjin dismounted Luna and went to check on Tilly, so I came to her side as well. 

"She's doing okay. I won't change her bandaging every day unless something changes so it gets some resting time to heal, but tomorrow I want you to come out here with me and learn how to do it yerself." Seokjin's explanation was relieving. Tilly did look good, despite resting her wounded leg and carrying it off the ground when she walked around. 

"How long before she could walk on it again?" I asked.

He thought for a while, standing up from where he'd crouched to inspect the bandage and swelling. "Hopefully a couple of weeks."

I sighed and stroked her mane. "Okay. Thanks, Jin."

He gave me a sympathetic smile before heading over to untack Luna. Jungkook finished with Denali and let her go, and we walked out of the stables to see Namjoon and Yoongi riding off somewhere together.

"I wonder what that's about," I mused, stretching my arms behind me and bending my back until it made a satisfying crack. 

Jungkook shrugged. "Yoongi likes to bathe indoors, so probably a trip to Valentine."

"What a princess," I said as I pushed open the door to the main house, and Jungkook snorted a laugh.

Taehyung followed us inside after a while, his mood a little flat, and I assumed there was something on his mind. He disappeared into the bedroom and didn't emerge again until dinner, by which point the fire was blazing to keep out the cold. Jungkook and I had spent the afternoon lazing by its warmth, reading and chatting. Occasionally, when Seokjin was busy preparing a meal or doing something outside, our hands would find each other's just to lace our fingers together for a few moments, sometimes making eye contact and sometimes just feeling.

We checked in on Hoseok sometime in the late afternoon. He stirred as the door creaked.

"I didn't mean to wake you," I said in a whisper, and he sighed heavily, an exhausted sound that made me look at him with sympathy. Jungkook and I came to the side of the bed, and Kook reached for the waterskin by his side to offer it to him. 

"S'all right," Hoseok said, his voice croaky with disuse, and he sat up just enough to not be totally horizontal. "I wasn't really sleeping anyway." He took a drink of water and patted Jungkook's arm in thanks.

"Are you hungry? Or anything?" I asked, hoping there was something I could do to make him feel better, as seeing Hoseok in any state but glowing with positivity was upsetting. In fact, with no jewelry, his fluffy hair dishevelled, the shadow of a few days’ stubble across his lip and chin, and no hint of amusement in his eyes, he didn’t look himself at all.

"Oh, I can wait until supper. I'm just losing my mind with boredom," he said with a weak grin. 

"I'd be sleeping if I had a wound like that," Jungkook said, beckoning to Hoseok's leg. "If I even survived it."

"I don't know how I did," Hoseok said, shaking his head a little as he thought back. His breathing was just a little heavier than normal, and he was a shade too pale, but he managed to converse quite normally. "The first thing I noticed was Zeek spooking. I gripped onto him as he bolted and  then I felt it… I can't describe the pain, it was just…" He let out a harsh breath, his cheeks blowing out, and looked between us for a second. "And the worst part was that I had to keep riding 'cause I couldn't stop him. If Yoongi hadn't pulled him up, I'd have come off soon for sure."

I had a devious thought while enjoying the story of their adventures. It didn't take a genius to see how nervous Yoongi became when he talked about Hoseok, especially in moments like the afternoon when they came home from their night in the snow and I asked him how they kept warm. You'd have to know Yoongi well to notice, but Jungkook and I didn't miss the set of his lips and the way he rushed when he spoke. I hoped Hoseok would have more to say on the topic. 

"It must've been downright freezing up by Mount Hagen in a snowstorm…" By the amused way in which Jungkook looked at me showed he knew where I was taking this.

Hoseok looked at me for a second, and then Jungkook, and apparently I'd been a little too obvious with my tone, because he had a hint of suspicion in his eyes as he continued. "It was icy for sure, but I didn’t really notice until I tried to fall asleep. I couldn't feel anything but agony. But worse than the actual stab was everything after…"

I noticed Jungkook cringe, obviously thinking about the dagger having to come out, and then his wound being cauterised. Hoseok gulped a little, probably reliving it in his head, but he still had a slight grin on his lips. 

"Sounds rough," Kook said, a grimace pulling his lips down at the corners. "How did you even sleep?"

I cheered a little in my head at his attempt to help me pry, and he was better at keeping the mischief off his face than I was.

"Boozed up with a fire at my back and your nice warm brother at my front."

I couldn't help my grin then. That was exactly what I'd been snooping for. I controlled my expression before Hoseok saw it, but Jungkook had unfortunately given us away with a smile that he tried to resist and couldn't. 

"Whaaat?" Hoseok asked slowly, now looking between us. 

"Yoongi just…" Jungkook began, and he managed to stop grinning quite so wide then, as long as he didn't see me smiling like an idiot. "Doesn't usually let people close."

Hoseok's lips twitched a little, and his brow pinched in confusion. "Oh, I figured as much. It was only because we weren't prepared for the cold. The guy can't stand me."

It was my turn to look confused then, and Jungkook glanced at me with the same expression. That wasn't the impression we had gotten at all, but maybe Yoongi was just more difficult to read than we thought. 

Seokjin called out to us from the other room then, so we each said quiet 'see ya's to Hoseok and wandered out to help with dinner. 

I was starved by the time the spicy stew was served, but I hadn't noticed it until I was holding my bowl. Filled with heat and delicious venison and vegetables, I thought it a good time to make our dash through the snow to the cabin, otherwise I would have shed my coat in here and wasted all of that warmth. Our fire still needed to be lit, so it would be unbearably frigid. Better I be almost sweating from chilli and paprika than shivering.

We bid everyone goodnight, even the brooding blonde alone at the table, and then walked out into a fierce snowstorm that almost blew Jungkook off his feet. That had blown over quickly, but it wasn't unexpected with how cold it had become that afternoon. Holding onto me to keep his feet over the icy ground, Jungkook marvelled at the storm out loud as we pushed in the front door and slammed it behind us. 

"This is January weather. Complete insanity." 

I nodded in agreement, for once without chattering teeth. He lit a fire and warmed his fingers while I kicked off my boots and took a long drink of much-needed water. However delicious the spices, I had learnt that if I didn't drink enough afterwards, I'd pay for it with a lingering headache from dehydration. Though it was a delicate balance between getting enough and getting too much, because nothing was worse than having to take a leak in a snowstorm. 

Jungkook moved away from the fire to prepare for bed as well. I took my gloves off and went towards the comforting warmth to bring feeling back to my fingers, but I stopped when I felt Jungkook's hand grab mine. He was leaning on the wooden bed end, not quite sitting but resting so he was just below level with my height, and he pulled me gently towards him. His hands were toasty from being buried in his pockets, and he closed them both over mine with a small grin that showed more in his eyes than his lips. I lifted my other hand to join the first, smiling as I watched him wrap his hands entirely around mine. 

"Why are your hands so big?" I asked rhetorically, only really noticing it for the first time now. Feeling began to return to my fingers and I sighed happily.

"Why are yours so small?"

"Shut uuup," I whined, mildly annoyed, making his nose wrinkle with laughter. I couldn't help but grin as well, finding him much too cute to get genuinely mad at. As his toothy smile relaxed, he seemed intent to hold my gaze. I indulged him, drowning in those youthful dark eyes while he moved his hands to lace his fingers through mine. 

Feeling hyper-aware of his skin against mine and our privacy in the tiny cabin, I stepped closer to him and gauged his reaction. I wasn't the best at reading his expressions when he looked at me like this, but when his gaze dipped to my mouth and his tongue poked out to wet his lips, I gave up waiting. 

With my head slightly tilted and my heart full of hope, I pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He responded immediately, not a second's hesitation in tipping his chin up and humming with delight. I could almost hear my heart pounding. We separated just slightly, noses brushing and hot breaths mixing between us until I needed more. When I kissed him deeper Jungkook made another soft sound, higher-pitched and needy, and it sent a shiver down my spine. Suddenly more nervous than me, he moved his lips awkwardly and gripped my hands in his. I didn't really know what I was doing either, but the tiny moans he made and his warm, wet kiss made my blood rush south.

I pushed his knees apart to get closer and wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing my hips between his thighs. He responded with a relatable desperation; his back arched and he pressed into the kiss. A deep moan vibrated in his throat and made my breath catch. Despite everything he'd put me through earlier, I wasn't prepared at all for this. Not only the addictive feel of his lips moving with mine, but his eager reaction. I knew for a while that I wanted him, and it was comforting and thrilling to have him want me back. 

His hands ghosted over the sides of my coat as though unsure what to do. Thinking about him touching me was enough to turn me on these days, but having his hands slide into my jacket and rest against my sides made familiar heat blossom in my groin. I pulled him against me a little tighter, and his jaw trembled suddenly, a stuttering moan breaking our kiss. Realising it had to do with the bulge in the front of his pants, trapped between our hips now, I pulled back a little to give him some space. With bright red cheeks and shining parted lips, he tipped his head down to rest his forehead against the fur trim of my coat, panting. 

"Sorry, I-... didn't know you'd be so sensitive," I said with a smirk, feeling flushed and excited but at least in control of myself. 

He lifted his head again and flicked his fringe out of his eyes, an embarrassed smile on his pursed lips. "Me neither." 

"D'you want me to stop?" I asked, watching his eyes as he pondered it. His hesitation said all I needed to know, and even though he eventually shook his head, I grinned and stroked his flushed cheek gently before patting his arm. "Let's get into bed."

Looking as though his skin may never return to its usual shade, he climbed under his warm blankets sans his coat immediately shuffled across to my side, waiting for me to join him. If I wasn't so weak I'd have made him wait on purpose, because the wanting in his eyes was new and tantalising. Alas, I practically dove into bed as soon as my coat and bandana were hung up by the fire. 

I made sure to be careful now to let him set the pace. He watched me closely as I snuggled into bed, but he didn't come any closer right away.

"You know," he began, voice hardly above a whisper. "I… I wanted this for a while, but I… didn't know it'd make me…"

I waited, lips twisting so not to embarrass him by grinning too much at his honesty. "Horny?" I offered, and then he smiled as well, unable to look me in the eyes for long. 

"Right."

"How long?" I asked, curious now after his confession.

"Hmm?" The way his brows rose and his eyes widened just slightly was almost too cute.

"How long have you wanted me?" 

His lips parted as though to reply, but he paused for a moment looking shier than I was used to. "A while." His soft, vague reply made my stomach flip. He might have had feelings longer than I had. "I didn't recognise it though. Didn't make all that much sense." His gaze found my eyes a few times, but he kept looking away nervously. "Until you kissed me I guess."

"So you could tell from then that I was sparking you?" 

"I… I was mostly surprised. And then you never did it again, until now, so I thought maybe I imagined it."

I snorted at that. "You could have kissed  me you know."

He shrugged, an adorably childish look on his face. "It was funny watching you pine for me." 

"I'm sure it was." He grinned at my sarcasm, and I couldn't help but smile along with him. 

"Never thought I'd be foolin' around with a feller but…" 

"It's okay?" I asked a little anxiously, because honestly, I'd thought the same thing myself. He answered with a nod and a slight scoot towards me. He snuggled deeper under his rug and moved his head to rest on my pillow beside me. As usual, he managed to slip himself, furs and all, under my blanket as well, combining our body heat into a delicious cocoon with the added bonus of being able to cuddle. His fingers were cold again when they found my hands. Used to him pressing himself against me to sleep, I relaxed finally, feeling like a weight had lifted. 

~~~~~~~~~~

  
:D


	16. Mahasani

plz enjoy Jimin getting dumped by Denali

~~~~~~~~~~

_ Chapter Glossary: _

** Ahote: ** a-HO-tay, a Native American name meaning 'Restless One.'

** Green broke:  ** describes a horse that has only recently been trained and not had much experience.

** Hobble your lip:  ** shut up

** Kanti: ** KAHN-tee, A Native American name meaning 'sings.'

**Mahasani:** Ma-ha-SAHN-ee, 'other kin' in Lakota, it's a highly affectionate term for someone (like 'my love').

**Rains Fall** : I wanted to use this character’s native name, but, well, he doesn’t have one in RDR2 >8( So I have to use Rains Fall.

** Sweet down on: ** the same as sweet on - in love with/crushing on

** Whaler: ** A tall, broad, attractive man.

_ Yoongi’s POV _

In the frigid barn I tacked up Mateo beside Jimin and Jungkook as they saddled Denali, wondering how they'd managed to glue themselves together even more than before. 

“Hey Jimin,” I began, swallowing my pride. “Do you know if Hoseok has any history with the Wapiti?” 

Jimin looked over at me, a fake innocent expression dripping with mischief, probably from whatever he and Jungkook had been whispering about. 

“Oh, yeah. He was basically raised with them wherever they lived at the time. I think down in the Heartlands? Which was… before we met him.”

I felt my brows crease at that. I realised I knew nothing at all about Hoseok's past then, except that his father had been killed when he was young. I didn't even know how young. 

“Maybe it didn’t end well,” Jungkook said, and we both looked at him as he tightened Denali’s girth. “I just noticed he’s a touch shy on the topic. Makes me wonder if there’s bad blood.”

It was good to know I wasn't alone in noticing that. 

Jimin slipped Denali's bridle over her ears, careful not to hit her teeth with the bit, and hummed in disagreement. "Hoseok having bad blood with anyone is hard to imagine." 

That I had also noticed. 

Hoseok limped into the barn, looking quite all right considering his injury. His entrance wasn’t introduced by gentle tinkling for once. Without all of his jewelry, though, he didn’t look any plainer. “Do you wanna do me a favour, Yoongi?” He asked, approaching Mateo and patting his rump. I pointed an expectant look at him for a moment, testing Mateo's girth by tugging on the horn. He continued cautiously, and it reminded me to be more careful with my expressions around him, as he was the only one still sensitive to my tendency to look unwelcoming. “Could you ride Zeek today?”

That I had not anticipated. It made sense, because it would be better if I took a fall than him, and having a saddle would keep him more steady in his seat while still a bit weak. 

“Sure,” I said, and handed him Mateo's reins. 

He smiled, relieved, and hurried to thank me for the millionth time that week. We led the horses into the courtyard, and Namjoon wandered out of the house, rubbing his hands together. 

“Now. I want this to be a diplomatic reconnaissance mission, okay? Talk with their leader, discuss trade value, then come home. And you're not going, Jungkook.”

“I know,” my brother pouted, voice thick with disappointment. 

Namjoon steadied Hoseok as he hauled him into my saddle, and then adjusted the stirrups to fit his longer legs. Jimin swung up onto Denali, which was quite impressive considering her height compared to his, and I grimaced up at the cold blood's fluffy topline, not looking forward to everyone watching me struggle. I gathered his reins and some of his mane in my left hand and stood by his shoulder facing his rump. After a deep breath, I swung my leg back and then threw myself up over his neck, leg just making it over his rump, and I ungracefully hauled myself to sit behind his withers. 

As expected, everybody was smirking at me, so I chose to take it as a win that I'd made it on at all. 

“Just be careful with your spurs on Zeek,” Hoseok said to me, and it occurred to me for the first time that he wasn't wearing any. I nodded, puzzled, and made a mental note to ride gently. The last thing I wanted was to be thrown.

The three of us rode out of the farm at a walk, Hoseok a little ahead of Jimin and me. It was odd and uncomfortable to be on a strange horse, especially a green broke one with no saddle. We journeyed in silence, which was surprising for Jimin, and I found myself watching the way Hoseok rode my horse. Mateo responded to what seemed like nothing. As usual, his effortless horsemanship perplexed and intrigued me, even more so while he was on Mateo.

A little lost in my musing, I took a while to realise Denali was making a fuss beside me, tossing her head and side-stepping into Zeek. 

“Whoa, sorry Yoongi, I don't know what's wrong with her…” Jimin said, but I did. There was only one thing that upset the blue-eyed standardbred like that. 

“Wolves,” I proclaimed, drawing my rifle. 

Mateo responded to Hoseok tensing all over, and his rider drew his pistol and whirled the stallion around to stay close to us. 

“Where?” Jimin asked, shotgun ready in one hand while he clutched Denali's reins. 

By the time they made themselves known, Denali decided it was too much for her. From the forest to the north of the trail, four snarling beasts charged, jaws snapping, and Jimin was tossed to the dirt in one rough buck. He landed with a hard thud, but managed to roll to his feet and aim at our attackers before getting into any danger. 

Luckily, the stallions were much braver, and I confidently fired two consecutive rifle rounds straight up the hill to kill two of them. Hoseok even landed a shot in the side of a third wolf, and although it wasn’t a kill shot, it was enough by then to ward it away. 

Waiting in tense silence to make sure the whimpering beasts left for sure, I glanced around to find Denali. She had galloped up the path and then into the woods a little, but she was waiting calmly there now. 

Jimin shouted angrily, spooking Zeek a little, and I shot him a glare.

“If ONE more horse throws me, I SWEAR-!”

“Hobble your lip and go catch her,” I snapped, just wanting to get on our way. I watched him storm down the road cursing under his breath. 

Hoseok moved Mateo to stand beside me. “Wolves don't usually attack during the day, do they?” 

I shrugged. “Sometimes. Good shot, by the way.”

Hoseok looked down at the pistol in his hand and then holstered it. “Thanks,” he said as he pointed a shy smile at me for a second before glancing back down at Mateo. 

We started down the road again towards Jimin, watching him catch her and clamber back up into the saddle. His pose was crooked as he did so, obviously in pain from his unplanned dismount. Hoseok asked if he was all right as we caught up and rode together again. Jimin just grunted, rubbing his side.

The reservation was a little off the main road, and it wasn't long before buffalo hide tipis came into view. Their small wooded territory was an interesting sight. Not overly populated but busy with livestock, it still seemed like a small amount of space for them, much smaller than I thought it was. A few wooden buildings dotted the outskirts of their territory, and traditionally-dressed men and women went about their business or relaxed on animal skins in the sun.

Our appearance in their territory roused their curiosity, and not only dogs but children began to follow our horses as Hoseok led us along a path towards a timber cabin. He stopped Mateo and looked at me hopefully for a second before I realised he needed help dismounting. It was clear some of the native people here recognised him, because I heard his name amongst the indecipherable mumbles of women by a tipi nearby. Hoseok held onto the saddle horn with one hand and my shoulder with the other, and as I helped him down slowly, a desperately excited shout came from behind me. 

I had to lunge backwards to not be slammed into when the tall figure of a native man all but collided with Hoseok. I stared, brow pinched with frustration, as the stranger clasped Hoseok's shoulders and pressed their foreheads together. Hoseok steadied himself with his hands on the man's arms and leant into the affectionate gesture, eyes closed and smiling, bittersweet expressions matching on their faces.

The stranger pulled back first, hands moving to hold Hoseok at his nape, and the way they looked at each other almost made me avert my eyes. "You're hurt," he exclaimed, moving to look down at Hoseok's leg, but Hoseok dismissed it by shaking his head, their noses brushing. "What are you doing here?"

Hoseok looked into the taller man's eyes and righted his expression a little, emotions less clear on his face as he went to explain himself. "We were hoping to speak to the chief about trade."

The Wapiti man looked behind Hoseok at Mateo as he moved back a little, no longer holding onto Hoseok, but his expression was that same nostalgic pain that spoke of a long history between the two that I wasn't sure I wanted to know about. "I like your horse," he said, his accent thick but his English natural and comfortable. 

"Oh, Mateo is Yoongi's horse. Ahote this is Yoongi," Hoseok explained, beckoning to me beside him. I quickly righted my expression. "Yoongi, this is Ahote." 

"My apologies," Ahote said, his gaze now pointed curiously at me, and a charismatic smile spread across his features as he reached a hand towards me in greeting. I could only assume shaking hands like this was offered entirely for our benefit. I clasped his hand, politely smiling back. "Mateo is a beauty."

"Thanks," I said, taking my hand back, and Hoseok went on to introduce Jimin as well who had dismounted and led Denali so he could stand at conversation distance. Jimin touched the brim of his hat with a greeting, at least making an attempt not to look as pissed off as earlier. Ahote greeted Jimin just the same, and I couldn't help but notice his exposed figure. An athletic build and smooth dark skin was covered by nothing but a fringed cotton breechcloth and leggings sitting low on muscular hips. A decorative beaded sash hung over his shoulder, and a hand-strung bow looped with the string crossing the opposite way. He was taller than all of us, but likely younger than Jimin, and his jet black hair was long and mostly tied back, a few loose strands framing his friendly face. 

Finished with the greetings, he couldn't keep his eyes off Hoseok as they discussed meeting the chief. We tethered the horses by the building, and Ahote led us towards a tipi with a fire out the front and women sitting on black and brown cow skins going about various tasks. He seemed to be about to lead us inside, but before he could, the buffalo hide entranceway parted for a middle-aged native man exiting the tipi. He looked at Ahote first, and after a moment he slid his gaze across us and stopped with surprise on Hoseok. 

He said something then that I didn't understand, and his surprise changed to pleased affection. A little taller than Hoseok and twice his age, his presence almost made me take a step back as he approached and greeted Hoseok with hands on the sides of his head and an equally friendly smile. It surprised me even more to hear Hoseok hesitantly speak back in what must be the Wapiti tongue. 

Before the exchange had finished, a group of young men, some still boys, ran barefooted towards us from across the camp, a few pinto and spotted horses trotting behind them and tossing their heads joyfully. They seemed to all know Hoseok as well, and excitement bustled around us for a while as they greeted him almost as though he were one of their own. 

With reunions out of the way, the older man standing by Hoseok turned to Ahote and spoke in English, clearly to be polite. "Do you come in search of me, Ahote?"

"Hoseok and his friends are looking to discuss trading, chief."

"And did you offer our guests some food and drink before you hurried to business?" 

Ahote's lips pursed, almost guilty-looking, and the chief patted his arm dismissively before turning to Jimin and me with a friendly expression. "Welcome to our home. I am chief of the Wapiti people, and you can call me Rains Fall." We introduced ourselves in turn, and the chief’s weathered hands clasped ours in greeting as he repeated our names to himself. “Please, come inside gentlemen. There’s fresh cow’s milk and frybread inside.”

Discussions and negotiations took quite a while with Jimin stuffing his face full of bread and Hoseok utterly distracted by the clingy Wapiti man reclining against him. It was up to me to make a good impression, explain our situation, and offer Ezekiel to the tribe in exchange for anything of use. The conversation moved outside when Eagle Flies requested he inspect the colt.

Zeek was in good shape: fit, healthy, and spirited, and it seemed like half of the tribe had their turn feeling down his legs, opening his lips to see his front teeth, and pressing along his spine as though looking for soreness. Eventually, the chief crossed his arms and stepped back, facing Zeek with his shoulder beside Hoseok's. 

"He's a spectacular stallion, friends," Eagle Flies said, admiration tainted by suspicion. "I'm sure I don't want to know where he comes from."

Hoseok breezed past that, charisma shining as always in company. "He was untrained before I broke him, so you know there's nothing nasty hidden under the surface. And he's got more growing to do yet."

Eagle Flies eyed Hoseok, almost the way a father looks at his mischievous son. "We could use a larger horse like him," the chief said, looking over at Ahote and then meeting eyes with a few of the women on his other side. Nods and indecipherable mumbles seemed to indicate approval of his decision.

Earlier, we had discussed the possible trade goods that the Wapiti had to offer. I saw some examples of beautiful and sturdy leather work, warm coats and moccasins, and a selection of hand made weapons that made me drool a little. I had fantasized about a sharp, skillfully-crafted hatchet all my life, and now was my chance to get one. Fortunately, Eagle Flies was acutely aware of Zeek's value, and we discussed for a while longer all the goods we could trade him for.

Coming to a loose decision, we made sure to mention that we had to report back to our leader before completing any deals. Eagle Flies—clearly noticing Hoseok's new human accessory—suggested we go with Ahote back to our hideout as an official representative of the tribe. I knew Namjoon wouldn't need anything like that, but I was frustrated at the suggestion for another reason entirely; I loathed to spend another minute in Hoseok and Ahote's company when they were together. There was too much touching, too much whispering in their language, too much of the half-naked Wapiti man letting his longing gaze linger in Hoseok's. 

However, it was settled, and Ahote trotted off to find his horse while we mounted up. Mateo was luckily also trained to lie down, albeit quite a long time ago, but my stallion—as usual with Hoseok—was perfectly cooperative. I wondered if it was the company that made Hoseok show off his equestrian skills more, since he had been happy to let Namjoon boost him into the saddle at home.

We were given a warm farewell as we left the reservation at a trot, kids and dogs bounding around beside us as they did on the way in. Ahote rode a golden pinto pony with a short white mane and tail. Kanti was his name, and he was about the same height as Mateo, putting his rider level with Hoseok as we picked up to a canter back down the road. Leading the pack on the tall coldblood, I was reminded what a long-legged horse's faster gaits felt like. He had a rocking-horse canter, and such impulsion in a huge horse felt startling, especially when you could feel every muscle of their back and shoulders through your seat. I had to hold onto his mane for a little while, and I was overly cautious not to touch him with my spurs. While I was sure I could have sat a gallop, I wasn't quite as sure about a buck.

Managing to ignore the conversation all the way home, I found myself in a slightly better mood after a freeing quiet ride. I slid off Zeek just outside the barn, paying no attention to Namjoon and the others greeting our guest. Jimin brought Denali to the barn and swung his leg over her neck to land beside me while I led the stallion inside for a groom. My chaps had mostly protected me from the sweat that collected and dried white on his coat, so I did him the favour of a quick brush before letting him out to graze. 

"Is it just me," Jimin started lowly, giving Denali a quick brush where her saddle had been, "or is that guy awful sweet down on Hoseok?"  


I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes, reaching to undo Zeek’s bridle, and forced down the mild anxiety that his statement made me revisit. “You don’t say?” I freed the stallion of his leather and let him turn away to leave the barn, licking his lips. “Just like you and Kook these days.”

I subtly checked Jimin’s reaction to that while hanging Hoseok’s bridle up, and I was glad I did. It was gratifying to see embarrassment and a dash of anxiety paint his features, mostly because for once it wasn’t just me feeling it. He took a while to reply, so I waited.

“I-I… don’t really… I mean, we’re just-…”

I snorted a laugh. “Don’t fret; it’s your business.” I couldn’t care less what he and Jungkook got up to, as long as they didn’t let anything come between them and make things difficult. I couldn’t imagine them fighting, but I’d seen a change in their interactions a while ago, as though their friendship had become a slightly stale version of what it used to be. In the past weeks it had gotten better, so without reading too much into it, as I really didn’t want any intimate details, I assumed they had fixed whatever chasm had formed. 

Jimin’s face was painted red as he took Denali’s bridle off and hung it up, and I watched his eyes go wide as Jungkook entered the barn looking for him. I left quickly after that, but as soon as I was outside I was reminded of what I’d been avoiding. At least now while chatting with Namjoon, Ahote wasn’t wrapped around Hoseok. The latter was nowhere in sight, in fact, and I managed to slip into the main house without being accosted for conversation.

Taehyung and Seokjin stood around Hoseok on the couch, and I went to them, a little concerned. The rustler was sitting a little splayed out looking exhausted and pained with a vial of laudanum in his hand. Seokjin moved a little as though to let me closer, but I was fine just making sure he was all right. He looked up at me after a huge sigh. 

“It may have been too soon for adventures just yet,” he said, a grim smile on his lips.

“Rest then,” I said as I went to shed my coat and find something to eat. I was hoping for some peace, but before Taehyung and Seokjin left, they had to gossip.

“Your friend out there’s a right whaler, Hoseok,” Taehyung said as he warmed his hands before slipping his gloves on. “Never seen such a handsome Indian.”

“ _ Taehyung _ ,” Seokjin scolded, and after he pause he corrected him. “You can’t say that. He’s  _ Wapiti _ .”

“Right,” the younger said, and he followed Seokjin back outside again. I felt a need to disappear as well, but I was in the middle of slicing myself some bread to snack on before dinner. Hoseok didn’t speak, which wasn’t uncommon for him these days, but it made me so uncomfortable in his company that I almost hid in the moonshine room to escape it. It was me; it had to be. He was the life of the conversation with everyone else, but even when I tried to ‘chat,’ he said as little as possible. It kept me up some nights racking my brain for what I'd done to make him this way around me.

That wasn't quite as bad as what kept me up other nights. By morning I was able to bury all evidence of the evening's discomfort, but while lying awake with him just feet away from me in the dark, sometimes I couldn't get him the hell out of my brain. There were things I'd been dreaming about for a while: our conversations, riding alongside him and Lady, the stories I was told about him. And then there were things I found myself dreaming about more recently: his side profile and absent expressions, the way his hips moved in the saddle, the feel of his hands on my skin. Any time I woke from one of these dreams I had to bury my face in my pillow, dig my nails into my scalp, and count sheep calmly until my body returned to a normal temperature. 

With a few pieces of buttered bread stacked in my hands, I turned to flee towards my room, but I tackled indecision the entire way to the back of Hoseok's chair, my swirling discomfort just losing to my vague sense of hospitality, and I turned to loop around the couch to stand in front of him. As usual, he looked perplexed to have my attention on him, which I ignored while handing him a portion of my snack. He took the bread, just hesitating long enough for me to notice, and then flashing a grateful but reserved smile.

"Thanks… you didn't have to."

I turned to single-handedly poke at the fire's embers with a stick, pushing some tinder into it to re-light it. "You're a cripple; I don't expect you to feed yourself."

With a flame beginning to climb some half-burnt logs, I sat down and crossed my legs, slightly facing Hoseok who was grinning while his cheeks were stuffed with bread and his gaze was in his lap. I gulped at the feeling of my heart tugging to see him like that because of me. It was just about the most confusing and embarrassing thing I'd ever felt, but I'd have to be on another planet not to realise I had some serious feelings for him. 

That wasn't the epiphany I wanted to have while the posse and our guest were walking in the front door. Ahote was Namjoon's height, but much more solidly built, and he briefly ogled everything in the house until he was behind Hoseok's chair. Just about finished with eating by then, I racked my brain for a way to escape the physical affection I was about to see.

Ahote's hands came to Hoseok's shoulders over the couch making him tip his head up to meet the native man's eyes. "I have to go, mahasani," Ahote said softly, and Hoseok smiled sadly. What he said next wasn't in English at all, and Hoseok's eyes drifted shut as one hand moved to his hair, stroking for a moment before the Wapiti moved away to leave. He gave me a friendly smile before turning away, and I forced myself to nod back. Namjoon farewelled him in the doorway, and then finally he was gone. 

"What a day," Jimin sighed as he slumped down beside me, as usual seeking the fire before anything else. Within moments, Jungkook was perched beside him, handing a piece of sliced dried meat to him. 

"Can the lot of you stop eating right before dinner? We're supposed to be rationing," Seokjin grumbled. 

Now would have been a good time to escape, but it was warm here, and I turned to lean against the couch and the wooden stump to be just far enough away from Jungkook and Jimin that their mumbles and giggles didn't annoy me. With the fire now stoked by the logs Taehyung added and my position much more comfortable, I didn't bother trying to fight off sleep as I drifted off right there on the floor. 

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I love this chapter :D :D :D I hope you did too!


	17. A Little More Than Talk

Hellohello I felt like updating so here I am :D please enjoy Jinnie chappy!

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_ Seokjin's POV  _

  
  


Bath day was always nice. I loved finally getting clean after so long being grimy, and it was a breath of fresh air not to be surrounded by pungent men in week-old clothes. What's more, the hot spring was heavenly. None of us seemed to realise that our new hideout was going to be so conveniently close to Cotorra. Free hot baths whenever we wanted? It was a dream come true. I couldn't believe I had to physically drag the others to get them here.

Namjoon rode alongside me as we arrived, and the horses stirred at geysers shooting boiling water into the sky just across the sulfur plains. "I'll be lookout while you wash. Holler when you're ready to switch."

"Good idea," I said with a nod and dismounted by a steaming pool. Just standing by it was warm enough to feel comfortable shedding my coat. It was never really comfortable to get completely nude in the great outdoors, but if I had to do it in winter, this was the place I'd choose. 

The four of us slid into the water around the same time, and a chorus of delighted sighs made me chuckle. There was nothing quite like it. I didn't want to dally, but after distributing the cleaning items I'd bought in Valentine, I gave myself a full minute to enjoy it while feeling came back to my fingers and toes. 

I realised my eyes had drifted shut when Taehyung waded over to me, the skin of his shoulders dotted with goosebumps where it wasn't under water. It was deep here, so much so that we could just stand with our shoulders bared. He didn't bother to speak, knowing I would indulge him when he turned his back to me. It was slightly out of character for him not to be chattering, but I noticed after a while that he was distracted by the pair on the other side of the pool. I looked past Taehyung's mop of unruly damp brown hair to the familiar cheerful and affectionate scene of those two doing anything together and wondered what had Tae so interested. 

"Wanna come hunting with me later?" I asked, wondering if he was just lost in thought. 

He took a breath in, squaring his shoulders a little when I scrubbed Lemoyne Vanilla fragrance down the middle of his back. "Sure." He sighed, head tipping back a little. "Thank Christ for this place." 

"I reckon." I finished scrubbing his back and reached past him to hand the brush back. "Does that mean you'll wash more often while we stay here?" 

"Don't get your hopes up," he said with a smirk as he swiveled around in the water to return the favor. The first scrub across my shoulder blades caused a delighted hum of pleasure. I never noticed how itchy I was until I bathed and felt that wonderful scratching. Taehyung paused just long enough for me to notice, but he continued as usual straight after, his breaths cool on my skin. 

"What are we hunting?" He questioned, and I couldn't help but notice that it seemed forced. 

"I hear there are moose in these woods. Buuut… we'd have better luck just taking what we can get. I haven't seen much other than small game."

"I've never seen a moose," he mused quietly as he finished scrubbing. I sighed, turning back to face him, wishing selfishly that I could just be scrubbed all over for the rest of the day. He handed me the brush and lathered up his arms and chest, and then backed towards the bank a little to brave the cooler air a little while he washed the rest of himself. 

"I've seen a few in my travels. They're magnificent." 

"How big are they?" He asked, curious eyes meeting mine as he dipped back into the water to rinse off.

"As tall as Lady with huuuuge antlers. It's a wonder they can hold their heads up." Taehyung looked at me with awe, and I couldn't help a small smile. "One day we'll find one together."

His eyes turned to crescents as he smiled sweetly. "I hope so."

I thought, before I'd managed to finish washing, that I should get our clothing cleaned before Namjoon wanted to bathe so that they had time to dry. 

Taehyung was good enough to help me scrub at stains and wring out all of the outfits, and he even offered to help me finish washing myself and shaving my face before I got out. I redressed in clean clothes and shouted for Namjoon, though he seemed to already be on his way over. After a workout, Voltaire was walking with her head low, covered in sweat and panting. 

"How hard did you ride her?" I joked, and Namjoon slid out of her saddle with a huff. 

"Just enough to get her to settle. She had an extra can of crazy for breakfast today, apparently." 

Volt snorted almost as though in protest. I took her reins and led her to stand with Denali, Frost, and Luna as he shrugged out of his clothes. I headed back over to the bank of the spring to hang our damp clothes on an old dead tree. 

"Hey Jin, did you manage to clean the smell of whore off?" Namjoon teased, a shit-eating grin on his face, and I scowled. 

"Very funny," I grumbled back, not at all surprised that he'd bring it up again. 

"I thought it was funny." 

I finished hanging our clothes, some of them feeling half dry already from the warm breeze, and then went to mount Luna to do some reconnaissance. I noticed as I swung my leg over her and sat into the saddle that Namjoon's unsolicited reminder had caused a reaction in my groin that made it impossible to sit comfortably. Grimacing, I turned Luna to canter towards the woods, cursing quietly under my breath. 

Life in a beaten-up abandoned farm was certainly different when you were used to the camp. I missed looking up and seeing stars through the gaps in my tent. I missed the fresh scents of the forest around me while I fell asleep. Mostly, I missed the privacy and space afforded to me by my own tent. Namjoon and Taehyung didn't snore at least, but Namjoon often had trouble sleeping, which kept me awake as well, and sleeping-Taehyung was just downright acrobatic in the bunk above me. If some part of his body wasn't making a thump against the wall every time he moved, the old wooden frame was creaking loudly enough to scare birds out of their roosts. 

At least I wasn’t stuck sharing with Jungkook and Jimin. Usually I could fall asleep to their whispering, but these days I got the feeling they’d be doing a little more than talk when in bed together. Their closeness these days was different; just a touch of hesitance that seemed entirely innocent. If I was right about that, something was in the air recently, because I’d noticed Yoongi acting all out of sorts around Hoseok as well, which led to me to believe there were feelings there. If that’s what it was, of course: Yoongi never really hid what he thought unless it was about his affection. And he didn’t show enough affection to anyone for me to be sure. 

Thinking about all of that made me think about my own… encounter. Even Namjoon had noticed that it wasn’t something I wanted, despite my thinking it was. She was young, pretty, eager, and my body had responded all right. I could reason that my hesitance was because she was a hooker, but that didn't bother me much when I thought about it. What bothered me was that we were strangers; I didn't feel comfortable with intimacy in general—let alone physical intimacy—from someone I had just met. It was such a nauseated discomfort that I hardly let myself think about it let alone dwell on the experience. In and around that churning, sick feeling, however, there were things I couldn't stop feeling any time I caught myself musing. 

Most potently, I felt the warm friction of her hands on me, rubbing, twisting, and squeezing just right, and it made it torture to be alone and lost in thought. I had to stop what I was doing, take deep breaths, and think about something else until the throbbing subsided. I could usually distract myself more easily when I thought about her neck-kisses and her slight nakedness, but thinking about it all at once while trying to fall asleep had consequences. 

The afternoon our guest named Ahote visited the farm, I couldn't help but notice his fawning over Hoseok—all intimate touches and longing looks—and it was an unwelcome reminder. With that niggling at the back of my mind all evening, I climbed into bed praying for sleep, but I was completely incapable. After attempting every possible sleeping position, I found myself flat on my back, glaring up at the timber bed frame of the top bunk with a relentless erection. I didn't follow any church, but that didn't make it feel right to touch myself like this. That wasn't going to stop me, however. I knew from past experience that I wasn't going to get any sleep until I sorted it out. At least it wasn’t going to take long in this state. 

Despite being quite sure the others were asleep, I did everything possible to minimise tell-tale noise like the much too obvious rhythmically rustling sheets from my hand. Not to mention my voice, which was awfully difficult to stifle sometimes. I hadn’t let anything loud slip in the past, but I also hadn’t been packed between four walls with two others while doing it. In here, it wasn’t only hums and moans I had to control, but my breathing as well. 

I forgot all of my reservations about this with my hand wrapped around myself, woolen blanket covering me up to my waist and my underwear open all the way down my front. It might have been a freezing night, but I was burning up. I even convinced myself not to think about that embarrassing day. Barely a minute passed before my heart rate was through the roof and I had to keep my mouth open to pant silently. I expected not to last that long, but it hit me so hard that it took me off guard when delicious spasms overcame my whole body, and I threw my head back from it. I'd somehow managed to scoot up on the bed far enough that instead of a pillow, the back of my skull made a hard thump against thick wooden bed struts. I felt Taehyung spook in the bed above me as I failed to trap a strangled ' _ack_ ' of pain in my throat. 

In a flash he was glancing over the side of the top bunk, a sleepy squint finding my face in the moonlight and only lingering there for a second before glancing down my body. Too overcome with conflicting pleasure and pain, I ignored him except to pull the blanket up a little higher. In my struggles I'd let it slip down, but I'd rather not know how much he managed to see. It was more than he expected to see, judging by the way his face changed as he looked back in my eyes. 

"You okay?" he asked, managing to look mostly objective. 

I cleared my throat, embarrassment making my cheeks even hotter than before. "I'm fine, just… hit my head." Hopefully I kept it from my face that I wasn't just cringing in pain but also utterly euphoric… from about my chest down.

Taehyung disappeared back behind the bed then and I sighed, head throbbing, thighs trembling, and belly covered in mess, wondering if I'd ever be able to sleep after that.

The next day brought a new challenge that we hadn't prepared for in the slightest. The early morning was overcast and snowing heavily, and the moment I went to take a leak, I realised it had been that way for the entire night. The back door wouldn't budge when I pushed on it, and I managed to stop myself opening it inwards, even in a sleepy haze. 

We were utterly snowed in. "Christ," I grumbled and went to a window to climb out. The snow was a few feet deep, and I sank to my knees into it, shivering immediately. I should have started a fire before I left. I rushed to relieve myself and then made a trail through the thick layers of freezing mess to check on the kids in the cabin. 

The window shutters banged against the frame as I trudged to the door, and I looked up instinctively. I realised on this angle I could see them through the window, which I may not have noticed were they tucked into bed and fast asleep. Instead, Jimin's bare body was half out of the fur rug, arms holding him low over Jungkook as they shared a passionate kiss. Despite my suspicions, it shocked me for a second. I stared as though looking a little harder might reveal that I was seeing things. Finally I managed to drag my eyes away and noticed how much it affected me. It might have been the after-effects of the evening before, but seeing them together got me hot under the collar. 

Deciding to leave them to it, I made another path to the front door and grabbed a rake. A few long minutes of elbow grease later and the path was clear enough to get in and out for now. The labour also helped me forget about what I’d just seen, or at least how it made me feel. It may have been a surprise, but it was actually rather sweet. That kind of affection was rare to see these days.

Inside the house again, I hurried to light the fire and attempt to have the place somewhat hospitable by the time everyone else woke. In half an hour, the sun was just peeking over the trees to the east, and the usual parade out of the bedrooms began. Namjoon first, then Yoongi, then Taehyung. As they each emerged I mumbled good morning and let them know not to use the back door. I was just adding the finishing touches to breakfast as they settled around the living room, wrapped in thick coats or blankets and eyes not properly open yet. 

Yoongi only rested on the couch for a minute or so before disappearing into his room again. As I began to dish up, he came back out with Hoseok draped against his side, limping slowly towards the front door. Every time I saw Yoongi helping Hoseok, or spending any time with him at all, the deadpan on his face was slightly more frustrated. Today it couldn’t really be described as a deapan at all; he was basically scowling. Hoseok’s expression, even masked with sleepiness, showed his discomfort plainly. There was a rift between those two that widened every day, and it killed me not to meddle. If it was anyone other than Yoongi I'd have offered a shoulder to lean on as soon as I noticed, but I'd likely get punched if I offered to talk about feelings with him. Hoseok, on the other hand, I might be able to get through to. Although, if it made it to Yoongi that I had indeed meddled, I'd still get punched. It felt safe to watch from the sidelines. 

Thinking about relationships while sitting on the fur rug and eating a hot stew in companionable silence, I felt my lips tug up into a slight smile at what I'd witnessed this morning, and I almost controlled it before anyone saw. 

"What's got you smirking at this hour?" Namjoon asked, his voice a little croaky with sleep still. He'd polished off his breakfast in half the time of anyone else, as usual, and was sitting on a wooden chair he'd dragged from the table to the fire. 

I met his eyes and couldn't stop the grin spreading as I looked back down at my bowl. As much as it made my insides swirl with confusing heat, it felt gratifying to have my suspicions confirmed. And also, it was pretty darn cute. 

"I was just… thinking we might not see Jimin or Kook for a while this morning."

Yoongi and Hoseok were wandering back inside then, and Taehyung vacated the couch. As Hoseok was gently set down, I put my bowl down to serve them breakfast. Unusually for Taehyung, he went to wash his bowl and then disappeared outside. 

"Why's that?" Namjoon asked, sitting back and crossing his legs, though his expression seemed skeptical now, rather than simply curious. 

"I went to check on them this morning, but they were a little too busy to disturb." I didn't talk about anything like this all that often; didn't even think along the lines of lovemaking that much before the other day. By the way it brought a grin to Namjoon and the rustler who'd recently sat beside him made me wonder if they'd spent more time thinking about it than I had. 

Hoseok spoke next. "I was wonderin' if those noises coming from the cabin were pain, with all of Jimin's injuries, or somethin' else."

Namjoon snorted. "Giving them their own little sanctuary was all it took, I guess." 

"So it wasn't just me thinking they were sweet on one another?" I said, more a statement than a question. 

"That's been years in the making," Namjoon confirmed. "Surprised it even took this long."

Yoongi, who had hovered behind Namjoon and Hoseok while shoveling his breakfast into his face, finished in record time and marched to the table to smack the bowl and spoon down and continue marching out the front door.

I watched him until the door swung shut, and then my gaze moved to Hoseok. His downcast look was on the bowl in his lap, lips a hard line, and despite the 'play it smart so you don't get punched' decision from earlier, I couldn't bare to hold it in any longer. It couldn’t have been anything other than Yoongi that ruined his cheerful mood from a moment ago.

"How's the leg, Hoseok?" I began, getting his attention. His round eyes found mine, and he put on a soft smile. 

"Oh, it's getting much better, thanks." He began eating again at least, but his mood was still off and it bugged me. 

"You've got my best nurse, so it should be." 

As expected, I triggered a reaction. His brows quirked almost sarcastically, but he maintained a polite expression. "If only he didn't hate doing it so much." His tone wasn't bitter. Hoseok's never really was.

Namjoon, who I didn't notice was still paying attention until then, turned a little to eye Hoseok sceptically. "You realise Yoongi hates doing everything, right?" Hoseok looked over at Namjoon, eyes round again, void of all sarcasm. "He wouldn't lift a finger to do anything but eat and drink if he didn't have to."

"He doesn't have to babysit me," Hoseok said, looking at Namjoon and then at me. "And he doesn't seem like the type to do what he's told all that often."

It hadn't occurred to me that Hoseok didn't know Yoongi as well as we did. I wouldn't have thought to explain that, and I didn't realise it was what Hoseok thought. 

Namjoon got up then to start the day, and he patted Hoseok's shoulder before rounding the couch to go wash up. Hoseok watched him for a second and then turned to me, confused. I said what Namjoon didn't.

"You're right. He doesn't have to."

I got up to help clean, leaving Hoseok with the last of his meal and presumably a lot to think about. 

Taehyung and I mounted up to ride north after snacking on some fruit around noon, and the further up the mountainside we went, the more the snow had melted from spending longer in the sun. Taehyung was distracted and quiet again, seeming to hardly notice Frost’s jogging that bounced him around in the saddle. Almost as energetic as Voltaire, she seemed to be fizzing today, and Luna fed off it with a more energetic walk than usual. I survived about ten minutes with silence between us, only the damp leaf litter crunching under rhythmic hoof-beats to be heard. The forest was still and calm in winter, all the animals hiding away and the birds sheltering from the cold. 

Unlike with Yoongi, I was perfectly comfortable asking Taehyung about his feelings. “Is everything okay with you?” I asked, genuinely concerned. He didn’t look at me right away, and I watched his brows knit under his fluffy seal brown fringe. 

“Yeah,” he replied, looking anything but ‘okay,’ but he met my eyes and the expression softened. “As much as usual.”

"You sure? Nothing's on your mind? You know you can talk to me." As I said it, I saw some of his pain poke through his defences. He masked it quickly, and his reply was formulated over uncomfortably long moments. 

"Nothing I wanna talk about."

I sighed, defeated. "Suit yourself." The journey into Tempest Rim was quiet from then on. I had to wonder if it was me making him upset, because I couldn't recall any other time when he'd been like this and not wanted to confide in me. In fact, half the time he couldn't wait to vent to me, because I was nothing if not a good listener. This stagnant quiet between us ruined my hopes for a relaxing afternoon, because I couldn't help but worry. 

We noticed animal tracks in the snow some hours into the journey. It had been dull until then, but we both perked up at the first sign of life. Life larger than a skunk, anyway. Pulling our rifles from our saddles, we followed the tracks for a while, mumbling back and forth about the direction and what kind of animal it could be. We had made sure to wander in a vague circle around the hideout rather than traveling straight north, so we were only half an hour ride from home at any time. Following the tracks, we seemed to head south and swerve towards the road, and as we did we noticed three whitetail deer trotting through the cool sludge. Tugging on his reins, Taehyung accidentally made a metallic jingle ring through the air, and all three spooked and began to run. 

I sighed and raised my rolling block scope to my eye, steadying for an action shot. They leapt downhill through the snow towards the road, dodging trees, making me work hard. As the deer bounded across the road, I noticed something in the corner of my scope. My finger slid off the trigger as I flicked my rifle upwards. A party of riders trotted along the road, and it only took a second to identify them as lawmen. I lowered my rifle and immediately whirled Luna around, quietly but hastily encouraging Taehyung to follow. We scooted back up the hill behind the cover of some trees.

"What?" He hissed, his gun couched on his thigh and pointing upwards, reins in his other hand holding Frost tight. 

"It's the law. At least five of 'em heading towards Granite Pass, maybe more."

"What in blazes are they doin' up here?" He grumbled, stress making his voice high.

"What's the bet someone's here for one, or all, of us," I huffed, thinking a million miles an hour. "Let's get back and warn the others."

Taehyung nodded sharply and flicked his reins to slap Frost's shoulders, and she took off like a rocket, encouraging Luna to find her go button. Rather than half an hour at an active walk, it took only minutes to come splashing into the soggy courtyard shouting with alarm. Namjoon burst from the stables and ran a few steps to meet us, panic on his face from our hectic arrival.

"The law are on their way, not far off from the west," I huffed, holding tight to Luna while she attempted a few small rears. Frost was about to turn inside out, so Taehyung dismounted, or more flung himself to safety, and let her canter crazily into the woods with her tail flagging. 

"Christ," Namjoon growled. "We need to prepare to go. And hide my 'shine!"

I nodded and dismounted as he rushed to throw his saddle and bridle on Volt. Inside, Taehyung rushed to explain to Jimin and Yoongi what the situation was, and we all hurried around to conceal the moonshine and then prepare for a rapid exit. 

Jimin took Denali into the woods the moment her saddle was on to find Jungkook who had been scouting to the east. Taehyung let him know to stay away for now, just in case we had to depart without warning. He gave me a look with tear-filled, frightened eyes before turning to gallop east, and I didn't know how to reassure him that Tilly would be okay. 

Namjoon and Yoongi discussed something quickly and then the younger mounted up, and he beckoned Taehyung to follow him. They cantered up the mountain behind the barn. Yoongi jogged over to me and took Luna's reins from me. 

"Get Hoseok on Ezekiel and get them to the Wapiti," he ordered, and I jumped to comply. “Leave Lady here with Tilly!”

"On it," I said as I ran to the house again. Inside, Hoseok was hanging onto the door-frame of the bedroom, his bad leg resting and his shocked eyes finding mine. "Let's get out of here."

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Gif is Namjoon on Voltaire after her _'extra can of crazy for breakfast'_

Hope you liked! Story is moving fast here now > u >

~~Also does Jintae make you cry like it makes me cry? I'm crying~~


	18. Counting Sheep

I am back with a double-length chapter because I'm obsessed with Yoongi 8)

_(Pretend wagon is slightly different, it's really hard to find a wagon with a shire on it in RDR2!)_

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_Chapter Glossary:_

**Broke:** (Broken, broken in) in reference to a horse, it means trained to ride. 

**Longjohns:** another word for undergarments, Union suit.

_Yoongi's POV_

I hoped to head to bed early and be asleep before anyone offered to assist Hoseok in limping his way in as well, but I had no such luck. After preparing for sleep, I attempted to slip into my room unnoticed, but Hoseok stopped me by attempting to stand. I met his eyes and rushed to help, trying not to grimace too hard about it. 

"Thanks," he breathed, looping an arm over my shoulders. Feeling him against me was more addictive every day. I knew what it was that made me uncomfortable, but it still confused and frustrated me. I didn’t want to crave his closeness or feel my heart race at his touch. I especially didn’t want to imagine him touching me in other ways every time he was against me.

"Don't mention it," I said, forcefully sounding as natural as possible. I sat him down on the side of the bed and went to get his medicine. The bag was getting light now, and he'd finished the poisoning antidote a few days prior. He got comfortable as I unscrewed an almost empty vial of laudanum to hand to him. "You don't need to take a leak?"

He shook his head, taking a generous swig of the opiate. "I'm fine. Thanks," he said, passing the vial back. He was quiet then, but not totally absent and switched-off like he would usually be when I went to get into bed. He didn't climb under the covers and turn away from me to sleep. I usually noticed because I watched him. This time he caught me watching, and I quickly plonked down on my mattress to avoid his gaze. Embarrassed, I tried to think of what his reason was for hesitating tonight. 

"What did you think of the Wapiti?" He asked, and it was the first time he'd tried to talk after we settled in for the night. There was no moon in the sky, and I hadn't bothered to light a lantern since I assumed we'd sleep right away. With the only light being from the living room fire under the door, I turned to lie on my stomach and found his face in the darkness. 

"What do you mean?"

Hoseok laid back a little, and he swallowed while he seemed to think about how to answer. "Just in general. I got the feeling Jimin and yerself haven't had much to do with Native people before." 

He was right about that, for me at least, but I hadn't thought all that much about it. “They're interesting,” I said simply, but rushed to make sure it didn't seem rude. “I mean, really interesting. I really want one of their hatchets.”

Hoseok was looking at me like I’d spoken another language for a moment, and then he cleared his throat before he replied. “Their culture is amazing.”

I nodded. “I thought they were… very hospitable,” I finished, assuming that was what he wanted to hear. Hoseok smiled a little shyly, his lips pulling up on one side, and looked down at the bed beside him. I rolled over onto my back again, desperate not to let him affect me at this time of night. Thinking about his smile lead to thinking about Ahote, and I sighed with more frustration than I meant to. The way they looked at each other had ripped through me, and before I could quash the feeling, I realised it was envy. 

I considered asking him about his life with the Wapiti. I was curious about how and why he'd come to spend time with them. But I was a little concerned about what I'd learn. It would be easier just to sleep. Thankfully, I heard Hoseok settle into bed then. I got comfortable and prayed for unconsciousness sooner rather than later, and mercifully, I was out like a light.

It had felt like a slightly cooler night than usual, but when I woke, I realised it had in fact been a _hell_ of a lot cooler. I simply hadn't noticed while warmed by a blazing fire and spicy meal. As rays of golden light spilt over the far wall from the window, I buried myself deeper under the covers and pulled the blankets over my head. I wasn't warm enough even completely surrounded, and I shivered while curling into an even smaller ball. The frigid floorboards were making even my mattress feel cold. 

Reminded of the last time I'd shivered like this, I thought of Hoseok's warm body against mine and his soft breaths in my hair. I thought of how I'd let him pull me against himself, and not only did I suddenly want to feel that again, but having the images in my brain began to warm me from the inside. It was both a blessing and a curse. 

The only thing that convinced me to finally get out of bed was my bladder, so I finally rolled over and scrambled for my coat. In the living room, Seokjin poked at a pot of stew and mumbled something about not using the back door. I was much closer to the front anyway. Pushing the door open, I paused one step out, seeing why the back door might not have been an option. I had never seen this much snow at this time of year. It would likely still get too warm for it to stay on the ground before the next snowfall, and I cringed at the thought of the courtyard turning to slippery sludge by the afternoon. 

Back inside, I went straight to the fire. My fingers were almost blue, and the cold had crept in and caused every part of me to ache. As soon as I finally started to feel comfortable, I heard a slight struggle through my bedroom door that I'd left ajar. Loathe to leave the fire, I closed my eyes to find the inner strength I'd need for good bedside manner today. In the room, Hoseok was just finishing getting his boots on, and he looked as freezing as I had when I woke. I fetched him his coat as he mumbled good morning, pain making his face look more awake than usual at this hour. 

I helped him up wordlessly, and he let out a sharp breath at the first step. Some days his pain was quite a bit worse, and I wondered if it was because of the temperature. Without his painkiller, he looked like he'd hardly healed at all.

"Should I get the-" I began, but he shook his head before I could finish with 'laudanum.'

"No time; gotta piss."

I almost offered to find him a bedpan, but at the same time, I wasn't sure I wanted that. It already stank in here.

I made sure to hurry then, and he stopped using his injured leg entirely, probably out of pain. He wasn't heavy, at least. I probably wouldn't have been able to hold anyone else up for long. I couldn't focus on anything but his bedwarm body and his long fingers gripping my shoulder as we hobbled to the front door. 

"No wonder," Hoseok began, panting slightly as he leant on me between steps, "it's so fucking cold." He looked around at the snow and put his bad leg down to help us navigate it.

We'd mostly made a trail from the door to the fence where we seemed to be communally urinating every morning, despite the outhouse over by the front entrance. I let Hoseok go as soon as he had the pine fencepost to hold onto and took a few steps away to wait. Jumping up and down on the spot served to keep me from freezing, and also to mask his throaty relieved sounds from behind me. 

"Hhhhhaaaaa fuck," he breathed, making me turn around to see him using snow to clean his hands. I shook my head to help mask a grin and trudged back through the snow to get him inside. His teeth chattered and he buried his free hand into his coat pocket, the other trembling against my shoulder. Inside again, I lowered him to the couch and escaped his haunting touch to get the medicine bag. After this vial, there was only one left, which was only a few doses. he didn't seem healed enough for that yet, but such an addictive drug had to be cut off before too long. I didn't look forward to seeing him suffer with no relief. 

Mostly lost in my musing while lingering close to the fire, I picked up on snippets of gossip from Seokjin and hurried to finish so I could escape. I didn't care if the two in the cabin wanted to make the most of their privacy; I just didn't want to hear about it. I gulped down the spicy stew and decided to spend the morning exercising Mateo. It would keep us both warm, and deep fresh snow was a great obstacle for strengthening his back and shoulders. 

It still amazed me how much stamina he had. The little stallion could go and go for hours, hardly needing a minute to catch his breath. Even in deep snow, we traveled up and down hills, scouting and watching for wildlife, jumping fallen logs, and only pausing to appreciate the pretty white vistas from the cliffs above Whinyard Strait. By the afternoon the snow was sludge, and as much as I was thankful for nice warm sun, I was more thankful for Mateo, as less surefooted horse wouldn't have made it back to the barn without killing us both in the disastrous mud. 

Mateo tucked into a box of fruit and grain as I untacked him, chomping happily around his bit until I took his bridle off. He'd worked up quite a sweat, and I could finally feel my whole body again. 

Tilly limped over to Mateo in the barn, and he surprised me by letting her share his treat. He was usually friendly and kind to the mares, but food was a whole different story. It was touching to see his altruism in a time when she was injured. I left the barn with a smile, feeling thankful that there were always going to be horses to make my day better. 

Jimin and Hoseok sat chatting by the fire when I entered the house. "Oh, where did you disappear to?" Jimin asked, wrapping his arms around his knees. I went to take my boots off beside the fireplace and sat on the other side of Jimin to warm my hands and feet. 

“I was around. Just giving the boy some exercise.” It was quiet for a while, and I was sure their conversation had ceased because of me. That shouldn’t have been annoying. After a few moments I forced out: “Where is everyone else?”

Jimin sheathed his knife that I hadn’t noticed in his hands, and I looked over to see him holding his little whittling project in his other hand. It was clearly a horse now, and had taken shape and detail since I last noticed it. 

“Jin took Taehyung hunting, and Jungkook is scouting. And Namjoon was in the barn last I checked.”

I hoped Jungkook knew not to wander too far. He was without his horse or a good rifle, and he wouldn’t be able to take on a bear with a pistol or a bow. 

“Pray it doesn’t snow again tomorrow,” I said with a sigh. “We need to sell that horse.”

“He’ll still be gorgeous even covered in mud,” Hoseok added, and I glanced over at him. He had his head tipped back and his eyes closed, just the hint of a grin on his sleepy expression. I tilted my head with an eyebrow cocked in agreement, not that he saw.

“I’m taking you to bed,” Jimin said, and he rose beside me. Hoseok squinted a little at Jimin, and I could tell he’d recently taken some of his painkiller from his carefree demeanor. He clasped Jimin’s forearm and the younger helped him limp into my room. I stretched out on the rug, groaning from the pain in my knees. It eased a little after stretching, and I felt my stomach grumble. Seokjin wasn’t here, which meant I could sneak some food if I wanted. 

When I reached the food storage, I noticed half an apple and a few peach pips on the top of the basket, so they’d eaten while I was away. Surely he wouldn’t miss a few more pieces of fruit. Jimin sauntered out of my room and pulled the door closed quietly before walking to the couch with his hands in his pockets. He knew better than to call me out for eating in the afternoon, and I crunched on half of a sweet red apple as I sat back down on the rug. He might not be about to tattle about my eating habits, but he was staring at me with something on his mind, and it took me a while to decide if I cared enough to address it. 

“Okay, what?”

He sat down gently, almost carefully. “I just… I wanted to make sure of something. A-and.” He stopped, taking a breath and rubbing his hands on his knees. “I know you said you don’t care, but…”

I cut him off. “Is this about you and Jungkook?” He didn’t seem to want to answer that, throat working nervously. “I told you, it's your business.”

“I-I know, but-” He scooted forwards on the couch, sitting on the edge and looking about as uncomfortable as possible. “It’s just that, I know with the way we live, there might… there might be things that could separate us, potentially… and I just wanted to make sure you were okay with…” He paused, taking a deep breath, and the raw emotion on his face made me want to escape this entire situation. “With me tagging along with you, because… I can’t… I can’t leave him now.”

I sighed, less annoyed when I realised how serious he was, and after a moment of thought, I appreciated how considerate he was being in letting me know. “Okay, sure. Well… That’s fine.” He looked less stressed after my reply. “I didn’t think you’d leave him even before, just saying.”

Jimin pointed a shy grin at his lap. “Probably not.” 

“And I guess…” I began, thinking for a second about how to phrase it. “I trust you to keep him safe.” He looked flattered and shocked at hearing me outwardly trust anyone. Without having to say any more, I could tell that he was completely sincere. Jungkook meant the world to both of us.

A while passed in peaceful silence. I relaxed on the floor with a book and Jimin lounged around the living room nearby, but I didn’t notice what he spent his time doing. I only looked up from reading to find his eyes when we heard distant shouts. Suddenly alert and on our feet, we rushed to get boots and coats on and equip our guns. 

By the time I'd loaded my Carcano, Seokjin and Taehyung were stomping around inside. "We need to cover the Moonshine," he said first, and then quickly explained. "We saw lawmen headed this way."

"Aww hell," Jimin moaned. "They better not be headed for us."

"Why would they be?" I asked, helping Seokjin drag a canvas sheet over the 'shine still. 

"Maybe the massacre at Bacchus Station," he grumbled, obviously disapproving of that particular adventure. "Or just checking out the property, since somebody obviously owns it."

"I'll deal with them," I said as we made for the door. Everyone scattered after Namjoon gave us directions. I updated Seokjin on what to do with Hoseok, mostly panicked about him and Ezekiel. For all we knew, a raid from the law could be organised by the Braithwaites.

Hoseok looked still half asleep when Zeek and Luna trotted off behind the farm together. I didn't watch them go for long. The place was my own by the time I saw the group of riders trotting up the path from the west. It wasn't obvious that they came from any sheriff's department. They rode ordinary horses and dressed in rather casual coats and hats. The rider at the front hollered at me as they pulled their horses into the front of the courtyard. I'd been to almost every sheriff station in the country picking up bounties and dropping off targets for several years. None of these men looked familiar. I placed down the hay bale I'd been carrying for show and dusted my gloves together, sauntering over as I was flashed a glimpse of a star-shaped badge. 

"What can I do for you, Sheriff?" I asked politely, acutely aware of my pistols at my sides and my rifle at my back. It almost never came to violence when the law was involved, but I was agitated and territorial, feeling very protective of my loved ones. 

"Good afternoon sir. Is this your property?" He asked bluntly, and I put my hands on my hips to be as close as possible to my holsters.

"It isn't, I found it vacant and needed a place to shelter from the storm last night. You see my cart horse is badly injured, and I'm a smidge stranded." I had rehearsed that, and it came out convincingly. 

"I see. Now, this might be all for nothing, but we caught wind of some hearsay that there was some kind of gang activity down by Bacchus Station not too long ago. Now, you wouldn't know anything about that, would ya?"

I made sure to look a little lost. "Me? No sir. Nothing like that from me, I travel alone."

"You wouldn't mind then if we had a small look around then?" The rest of the party eyed me suspiciously, and I paid them no heed. 

"’Course not; as I said, I don't own this place, I just stopped here."

Luckily, as they swept the farm they didn't see anything they considered out of the ordinary, though they had headed straight for the barn first. Anything belonging to my posse could have easily been left by previous squatters or belong to me, so they didn't question it. They didn't question why I had three horses to myself either, or check to make sure there weren't several fresh, muddy tracks leading into the woods, which there were. I briefly wondered if their draw was as fast as their wits. Content, though still suspicious, they left me with a warning that I had to vacate the property regardless of my horse's health. Assuring them I would, I went back to 'work' moving bales of hay as they left. 

Although relieved to have them gone, their warning about having to leave here made me nervous. We'd gotten comfortable, and the few material things we had were sprawled out. Our posse was also scattered now, and I had no idea where anyone except Seokjin went. Making a snap decision to leave the place unguarded for a short while, I mounted Mateo and headed for Calumet Ravine. 

  
  


I slowed Mateo as we turned up the path to the Wapiti camp. Despite the flat gallop here, he was hardly panting when we arrived. I spotted Luna and Zeek tethered by the timber cabin we'd stopped by last time. A woman approached Mateo, her long dark hair fanning over her shoulders with the breeze, and I met her friendly expression with an attempt at a smile.

"Your friends are inside," she said as she took Mateo's reins. "I can take care of this one." She patted the stallions shoulder and turned to beckon to the chief's teepee behind her.

"Thank you," I breathed as I leapt out of the saddle. I didn't want to stay here long and leave our base undefended, especially in case the lawmen decided to come back, or worse, weren't lawmen at all. 

A guard standing at the teepee's entrance looked me up and down for a moment before opening the hide door to let me through. Inside, Seokjin leapt up from a rug on the floor and took two steps to close the distance between us, hands landing on my shoulders and a relieved look in his eyes.

"Thank Christ you're okay. What happened?" 

"You were right," I said as he turned to lead me to a place to sit. Unsurprisingly, Hoseok was sitting on a wooden stool with Ahote on the floor beside him, and they both watched me intently. The chief was nowhere inside, however. I sat close to the fire, not feeling the cold yet but enjoying its warmth regardless. "They were investigating the raid at Bacchus."

"And?"

"I don't know. I don't know if they suspected me at all but they said I have to leave the place since it doesn't belong to me. So we should probably move on."

"We'll have to regroup first. The closest gathering point to here would be O'Creagh's Run? Or Barrow Lagoon?" 

I shrugged.

"Gathering point?" Hoseok asked, and it dragged my eyes to his. 

Seokjin answered him first. "Previously agreed-upon locations to go to in the event that we get split up."

"Ahh." 

"O'Creagh's Run is closer," Ahote began, and we all looked at him then. "But if your friends went west, they'd have likely continued to the lagoon."

"Right," Seokjin said with a sigh. "Jimin and Jungkook probably went east."

"Great." I stood again then and stretched my back. "So do we regroup first and then vacate the place, or do we pack up what we can and then go find them?"

Seokjin shook his head, already decided. "We can't leave everything there. It could be days before we regroup."

"And Tilly?" I asked, wondering if he'd thought of that. His lips twisted while he stared at me. He hadn't. 

"Could…" Hoseok began, and he turned to look down at Ahote. "Could you care for one of our horses for a while?" 

The native man nodded, a smile lighting his face up. "Of course. What's wrong with her?" He pointed a curious look at me.

"She was shot in the hock. It's healing but she can't travel far," I warned.

"You'll be lucky if she ever heals from that," he said gravely.

"I didn't ask for your opinion," I replied, and he sealed his lips.

Seokjin made an attempt to defuse me with a pat on the shoulder. "Okay then, we will leave Tilly to you, Ahote, _thank you_ _very much_ _for your help_." He gave me a subtle glare as he emphasised the words, and I ignored him. "We'll pay you of course. It can come out of Jimin's share."

"Just add her care to part of the trade deal for that colt," Ahote said, avoiding my eyes now. "Since you're down a set of hooves, could we offer you a well-trained mare for your friend to ride in the meantime?" 

Seokjin contemplated it. "That would work out well," he said, and for a while after that they discussed the trade with the intent to complete it. Apparently Seokjin felt comfortable making decisions for Namjoon in his absence. I wasn't going to complain. The only thing I cared about now was getting back to the farm, so I frequently reminded them of this. 

Finally, we filed outside to follow Ahote to a corral by the edges of the camp. Hoseok sat down on a log outside the teepee and waited for us to return. He was immediately flocked by other Wapiti, so I figured he'd be kept occupied. Small spotted horses and a few larger pintos grazed or rested peacefully in the shade of the pine woods. Children sat astride a few of them, braiding their manes or simply playing, and the horses hardly noticed. 

At the edge of the rough fence Ahote whistled, getting the attention of a few mares. He whistled again, a different sound, and to my astonishment just one mare came to the fence, obediently focusing on him with her ears pointed forward. She was tall and broad with a red-bay and white coat and large, soft eyes. She looked friendly and gentle.

"This is Citali," Ahote said, taking her face in his hands. "She belongs to my father, but he's away too often to ride her."

"She's a beauty," Seokjin said, patting her through the fence and looking on with admiration. "And you'd let us borrow her?"

"It depends. Is your friend a good rider?" He looked like he was joking at least a little, and Seokjin laughed. 

"He's gentle. More likely to come out of the saddle than hurt the horse, I reckon."

"Hoseok will help," Ahote said, his smile changing a little as he gazed at the mare's sweet face. She let out a long warm breath, vapour rising and curling in the cool evening air, and her large, intelligent eyes closed and opened slowly. The desire to stroke her fluffy neck almost outweighed my pride. "When we were growing up, my father would say he's got the spirit of a horse."

"Hoseok?" Seokjin asked, and he got a nod in reply. "He grew up here?" 

"Sure, you didn't know?" 

I was ravenously curious, but I made sure not to let it show. 

"We don't know a lot about him at all, actually," Seokjin said, and his statement brought me right back to Namjoon's inquiring about the rustler. Their suspicion made me even more curious. 

"When his father died he was alone. I found him one day, freezing and starving and half way up a tree to escape a pack of coyote. I was about ten summers at the time, so he must have been… fourteen?"

Seokjin looked as interested as I was, and I even forgot for a while that I was in a hurry. 

"So young," Seokjin mumbled, shaking his head. "And the tribe just… adopted him?"

Ahote chuckled. "We're considered almost men by that age, but the chief could tell he wasn't going to make it alone."

Seokjin smirked. "He was lucky you found him. What made him leave?"

"By the time he was about twenty-two he just took off. He was not made to stay in one place."

Seokjin nodded then, understanding. "Like a horse."

Ahote gave him an amused and strangely affectionate look, clearly reminiscing. "Like a horse."

"Well, I can't find the words, friend. We owe a lot to you," Seokjin said, looking genuinely guilty about accepting the loan of Citali. Ahote caught the mare with a loose neck rope and led her towards our horses where we regrouped with Hoseok. 

"Hello beautiful," the rustler cooed at Citali as he limped over to her, and Seokjin took her lead when Ahote dropped it to rush to Hoseok's aid. "Looked like you had a nice chat," he said to Ahote then, entirely too comfortable with their faces hardly an inch apart. "What secrets did you tell them about me?"

"None mahasani, I promise." 

"I have to get back," I said then, finally having had enough of waiting.

"Before you leave-!" Ahote said hastily, and he unhooked Hoseok's arm from around his neck to pass him to another equally tall and naturally attractive young man. I swung myself into Mateo's saddle and steered him towards the road, and Seokjin went to help Hoseok towards Luna. I waited impatiently, and moments later Ahote returned from behind the log cabin with a handmade saddle pack stuffed within an inch of its life with goods. He placed and secured it on Citali's back, and then walked over to Mateo and me. 

I noticed as he stopped and raised his arm that he was holding a hatchet. He flipped it neatly to point it's wooden handle towards me, and a slightly bashful smile spread across his lips. A little in awe, I swapped hands with Mateo's reins and reached out to take the weapon, my fingers closing almost delicately over intricate carvings.

"You're joking," I said, shocked just at the sight of it let alone the thought of it being given to me.

"It is cedar and moose antler. Hoseok mentioned you wanted one." 

I inspected the delicate carving and gorgeously shaped wooden handle, but I tore my eyes away to meet Ahote's before I got lost admiring it. "How can I accept this…" I said in a low tone, feeling almost ashamed. I'd snapped at him earlier, and I hadn't ever looked at him with anything but distaste unless I forced it. Not to mention it was an elaborately detailed weapon, and I didn't feel worthy of taking it. 

"Just take care of Hoseok for me," he said, almost pleading in his deep, accented voice, making it difficult to believe he was even younger than my brother. 

I glanced at the hatchet, or 'tomahawk' as I should have called it, and then back at Ahote. "I will."

I watched him walk away and wished I thanked him. Hoseok had been eased into Luna's saddle and Seokjin hauled himself onto Citali's bare back to sit in front of the pack of goods. I took the lead and looped it around Mateo's saddle horn for reassurance, but the new mare looked more obedient than even my stallion. She was probably ridden tackless by children quite frequently. Zeek nickered and whinnied sadly as we trotted down the path and cut into the woods to avoid the main road. Mateo even whinnied back, and I stroked his mane as a small apology for the loss of his friend. The journey home was free of conversation, making way for my confused, muddled thoughts to tie my stomach in knots. 

After packing what we could carry on our horses, we gathered outside to discuss our plan of action. 

"If we can somehow hitch Lady to the wagon, we can at least take the Moonshine to sell on the road," Hoseok suggested, trying to hide his pain without much success. He shuffled to sit on a crate beside the house to rest while we spoke. 

"Good plan. Which direction should we go in first?" Seokjin asked.

"Towards Jimin and Jungkook. Namjoon and Taehyung can look after themselves, and if they headed north-west they'll be further from the law anyway."

Seokjin seemed to agree, but his face betrayed that he was about to offer an alternative. "How about we split up?"

I felt my eyes go wide before my face scrunched up at his suggestion. "What? You can't be serious."

“We could regroup more quickly, and if we decide on a meeting point now, we can be sure we'll regroup sooner rather than later.”

“Okay,” I said, untrusting of that plan but willing to humor him as long as I was free to go find my brother. “So where, Twin Stack Pass?” I suggested, and he nodded at that. “Well if you take Hoseok and the wagon, you can stop by the local farms or even Valentine to sell the 'shine, and then-”

"Actually I'd prefer to head straight to the lagoon as soon as I can, if that's okay," Seokjin interjected, and my stomach dropped. An overnight gallop to O'Creagh's Run was just what I needed to clear my head. A slow walk beside a creaky wagon full of illegal liquor towards a town like Valentine was not at all to my taste, especially at a time like this. 

Seokjin seemed to have noticed the emotion I tried to hide, and he looked at me sympathetically. "I'm worried for them, is all," he finished, and I sighed, exasperated. I was in for a long night. 

Before we departed, Ahote and another Wapiti rode into the farm on their tackless pinto ponies. Seokjin took them into the barn to show them Tilly’s condition, and after a while they emerged again, still talking. It was decided that they’d leave a companion mare here with Tilly and check on her whenever they could. Seokjin seemed satisfied with their medical opinion of how to continue her treatment. I pretended I’d forgotten something inside when the native men went to give Hoseok their farewell.

After their departure, I helped Hoseok throw together a decent set of harness from the old tack in the barn and a few leather straps and ropes he found lying around. Lady didn't exactly look comfortable, but at least she had a collar to push against and her loving owner right beside her giving encouragement. Apparently riding was less painful than driving the wagon for his leg, so he steered her from beside instead. He was riding Mateo, of course, because the new horse had no fitting tack and could possibly come with dirty tricks up her sleeve. With Hoseok grimacing his way through a long painkiller-free ride, I preferred he was at least riding a dependable mount, even if that meant I had to ride bareback again. One of these days I might even get better at it. 

I decided we would have to lighten our load in Valentine the next day, because Lady and her homemade harness were struggling. Luckily she was tolerant, well-trained, and trusted Hoseok within an inch of her life. We pulled off the road in Cumberland Forest, a few hours out of town, and I immediately started a fire to warm up by. Forgetting to help Hoseok dismount, I cringed at his groan when his boots hit the grass. 

"Why can't you just-" I began, scrambling to my feet and jogging over to Mateo's side to help, "-ask me when you need help?"

"He's so close to the ground, I thought I'd be all right," he joked. 

"Can you take some darn painkiller now?" 

He clasped my shoulder for balance and hopped backwards to my saddle bags. "Yes, I will take some now, and then I'm going to sleep."

It seemed he was trying to wean off the stuff, which made sense. There was so little left that the self control it must have taken to only have a sip was beyond me. Although, he followed it up with a good few swigs of rum, which was also a great pain reliever.

Without enough supplies to pitch a tent for the short rest I allowed us, I made do with the blankets I'd packed and his bedroll while crafting a small makeshift bed in the back of the wagon. There would almost be enough room to lie stretched out. Fully in darkness now, the flickering campfire cast long shadows against the leaf litter and radiated tantalising warmth. Skittering rodents climbed the trees where birds had finished their evening song. Forgoing any food, Hoseok let me help him into the back of the wagon and cover him in a pelt rug. 

“Holler if you need me,” I said, making sure he heard it, though usually he wouldn’t anyway. There was nothing I could do but offer and hope one day it’d get through to him. By then, he probably wouldn’t need me anymore. I sat by the fire on my bedroll and looked up at the stars. There was too much going on in my head to bother convincing myself to eat. I didn't feel comfortable sleeping here in the open like this, assuming I could fall while worried about Jungkook. I meant what I said about trusting Jimin to keep him safe, though. If I didn't, I'd have ditched everything to chase after them. 

Thinking about who I trusted now, compared to a few years ago, I realised I was utterly dependent on the posse. I didn't want to let it get that way, but they had proven themselves time and time again now. I trusted them more than family.

And Hoseok… Namjoon and Seokjin didn't trust him, and I'd seen Jimin shoot him dirty looks more than once. He got along just fine with Taehyung and Jungkook, but both were too carefree to notice much other than his bubbly personality. I didn't know an awful lot about him, but I knew I trusted him. Maybe that was just my heart talking. I made myself focus on something else at that thought, so I pulled apart my Carcano to give it a thorough clean. At least it was only a few more hours before dawn. 

We stopped the wagon by the stables before the main street in Valentine. With concealed moonshine in the back, we couldn't linger long, but we couldn't rush and make people suspicious either. Not that the law was all that competent in this town. Hoseok and I looked at each other as though both thinking the same thing: what do we do now? 

“I’ll stay with the wagon?” he suggested, said it as though asking.

“All right… can’t have you limping around town.”

Offloading as much of our goods as I could on the doctor, general store clerk, butcher, and gunsmith, I went finally to the Valentine Saloon, the only legally-operating liquor business I knew of that would buy illegal moonshine. Without much trouble at all, they agreed to buy the whole wagon’s worth, even at close to the price Namjoon would have gotten for it elsewhere. Hoseok complimented my salesman abilities while we drove the wagon around the back and made the shady deal.

"Do you reckon we ditch the wagon now?" I mused as we steered back onto the muddy road, not that it was really his decision.

"Up to you. You could sell it here and buy another later."

"True. Or I could buy Lady a real harness."

He shrugged, at least somewhat distracted from his pain now it seemed. Or maybe it had simply gone numb, as the snowy morning was alarmingly colder than the evening before. Watching snowflakes settle atop his soft jet hair, I had another thought as well. 

"We should gear up for winter as well before we leave."

Hoseok agreed wholeheartedly. I was glad there wasn't a proper tailor in this town, because I couldn't bear another shopping experience like the last. 

I spent a pretty penny on a shiny leather harness for Lady to save us selling our faithful wagon, and then picked up a cheap snaffle bridle for Citali while I was at it. The next stop was the general store, again, where I helped Hoseok up the steps to decide on a fur coat and thick longjohns to get us through the next few months. I stocked up on whiskey while we were there. 

As we struggled down the steps, having finished shopping in record time, I didn't miss Hoseok eyeing the hotel.

"You want a bath?" I steadied him in the mud as we almost slipped, and he chuckled a little before shaking his head. 

"No, no, we're in a hurry," he said, "I'll wait."

His longing expression said otherwise, not to mention the smears of dirt and grime on every exposed bit of skin. 

"Unless you want to…" he finally added, and I managed to control a shudder at the place my thoughts took me then. At least we'd be clean for changing into our new clothes.

"No," I made myself say before I couldn't win that argument with myself. "I can wait." 

By mid morning we were passing through the Heartlands by the oil fields. It snowed for most of the day, and as the sun began to set we turned off the road by Heartland Overflow to travel cross country to Moonstone Pond. We saved a few hours that way, even going slow where Lady and the wagon had to navigate more difficult terrain. 

For once we didn't travel in total silence. Hoseok offered stories about his travels, which encouraged me to share my own. A lot of what he shared was similar to Ahote’s story: situations where he needed to be saved. Always funny ones, to me at least. He didn’t talk about his time with the Wapiti or about his life before. Just his adventures alone with Lady. He hesitated around the topic of other rustlers, and even mentioned Clementine once, though he kept the details to a minimum. I questioned my loyalty to Namjoon when I decided against prying about her. I didn’t want to make him more uncomfortable around me than he already was. 

“The last time I ever got thrown from a horse was years ago now,” he said after a rather embarrassing tale about getting bucked over a fence into somebody’s pumpkin garden and smashing their prized vegetables. “I try not to let them get to the point where they feel the need to react like that, you know?”

I didn’t, but I nodded. “It feels like you can talk to them sometimes,” I confessed, and he gave me an amused look. 

“You can talk to them too, you know. You just have to listen when they talk back.”

I didn’t really know what he meant by that, either. “How?”

The corners of his lips twitched, and he looked down at Mateo’s mane. “I’ll teach you if you teach me something.”

I watched his hand that held the reins stroke through the stallions coarse black hairs. “Oh yeah? What do you wanna learn?”

“How to use one of these,” he said, his other hand coming to the butt of my rifle in the holster on Mateo’s saddle.

I nodded, figuring that would be useful for both of us. “Sure. Are you thinking of buying one?"

"Not unless I'm any good at it."

I snorted a laugh. "Maybe you should ask Seokjin to teach you then." 

He went quiet after that, and I scrambled for something else to talk about until I gave up, hopelessly awkward as always around him. 

By nightfall we reached Moonstone Pond, and we stopped to water the three horses. Mateo would have gone on without complaint, but Lady and Citali needed a break. 

"She looks great in that harness," I said to Hoseok as he unhitched his mare while still in the saddle and let her walk to the shore of the pond herself. 

"She sure does," he agreed heartily. "She likes driving. Seems to feel more at home."

"Did she tell you that?" I joked, and I watched a smirk spread across his face while he pulled his feet out of the stirrups and looked over at me.

"I'll show you." 

We trusted the mares to graze close by while Hoseok and I snacked canned food and pestered Mateo with our lessons. Hoseok taught me about their subtle facial expressions, their tell-tale body language and instinctive reactions, and made a point of demonstrating with Mateo. 

"I love Lady because she doesn't take any bullshit. If you lay on her reins too hard, she'll toss about and break stride. If you push any of the wrong buttons, she'll tell you."

"And Mateo?" I asked, feeling that he was about to make a comparison. I knew my horse like the back of my hand, but I predicted he was about to tell me something I didn't know.

"Mateo is interesting. You broke him?" He asked, and I didn't know how he figured that out. I wondered if I should be offended. I just nodded, watching my stallion lick his lips and chew on his bit. "Riding Mateo is like riding a very inexperienced horse."

Confused, I tilted my head and met his eyes then. "How so?"

"He doesn't know basic cues, he takes a lot of pressure to respond, and he doesn't carry himself well."

I blinked, staring in even more confusion. I vaguely know what some of that meant. 

“I could help you retrain it all, if you wanted.”

“Is it a problem?” I asked, looking at my stallion again with slight concern.

Hoseok shrugged. “It’s more pleasant for them if you don’t have to tell ‘em so roughly all the time. When you can just ask gently and they know what you mean.”

I reached up and stroked Mateo’s ears. “Does that sound good, boy?”

Hoseok smiled warmly, and I managed not to stare by the skin of my teeth. 

After a rest, I wondered if we should go on or stay here for the night. It was half a day at our pace to where we hoped to find Jungkook and Jimin, which meant it could be most of the night searching in the dark, if we made it safely at all. Hoseok also looked exhausted sitting on the back of the wagon. I watched as he sipped from a mostly empty bottle of rum, eyes turned towards the mares and head in the clouds. He only ever got that pensive look when he was alone with me that I noticed, because with anyone else he was yammering away a hundred miles an hour. 

"Stay the night, do you reckon?" I asked him from my seat in the grass beside my grazing stallion. 

He looked at me then, just noticeably slower than usual from his alcohol intake. "Stay the night? You don't wanna find them sooner?" 

"If they survived last night they'll survive tonight."

He breathed a laugh. "Well. I could sure use some sleep, but I think you need to take the first break."

I felt my brows rise as a 'hmm?' slipped out. "Oh, sleep? No, I'm fine. You need to rest."

"When's the last time you got some sleep, Yoongi?" 

I blinked at his tone. "Uhh."

At that he beckoned towards himself and patted the timber of the wagon beside him. "Please. I slept plenty and you won't be any use to Jungkook if yer over-tired."

I argued even as I got up to comply. "I won't be able to sleep if I'm worrying about him, either."

Hoseok pushed the rum bottle against my chest as I approached and I took it from him, hyper-aware of where my skin touched his. “I’ve got just the thing for forgettin’ troubles,” he said, taking his hand back and sliding off the wagon to his feet.

“Did you take the last of your painkiller?” I asked, eyeing the pitiful amount of run left in the bottle. 

“I’m saving it for tomorrow. It would make me too… sleepy.” He sat himself down on my bedroll in front of the fire with a sigh.

“All right. Do you need anything before I sleep?”

“Nope,” he said with a shake of his head, and he reached for my waterskin to toss it back to me. “Get some rest.”

Easier said than done, I thought as I climbed into the wagon and laid down on folded blankets. I tried to think about anything but my missing brother. Anything but my missing brother or Hoseok. Noticing my tiredness as soon as I was comfortable, I downed the last few mouthfuls of rum and resorted to counting sheep in my head until I finally drifted off. Unfortunately it wasn’t the sheep that made it into my dreams. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Some arguably pointless stuff in there but I get carried away talking about Horses, and I imagine Cowboy Hoseok is the same ^^;

See you next chap for some Jikook!


	19. Keepin’ Warm

_ Jimin’s POV _

Denali could really go like lightning when she needed to. With a few hard jabs from my spurs, we were flying away from the farm and the potential threat in search of her rider. Panicking about Tilly and the lawmen on our tail, I could hardly think straight. Luckily Jungkook’s horse was rather attached to him, and instead of a mad bolt in any random direction, she galloped straight towards him and found him in the thick pine forest. By the time I noticed him, he had turned at the sound of our breakneck gallop. Denali slowed as she approached Jungkook, and he ran to meet us, panic in his eyes at the state of me. I didn’t think to wipe the tears from my face until they’d already dried.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he skidded to a stop beside his mare, trepidation in his eyes. 

“We have to go,” I began, huffing a little. “There could be lawmen on our tail, so we need to clear out.”

“Where are the others?”

“I-I’m not sure, we should just get to a meeting point and wait.” I held my hand out to help him up onto Denali. He hesitated for just a second, frightened. I didn’t blame him. He clasped my hand and swung up behind me, and his arms wrapped around my waist as we moved off further east.

The forest was a blur as we sailed past, Denali confidently carrying us at a surefooted gallop. I trusted her not to steer us into any trees as we picked our way around the northern end of Whinyard Strait and across Cotorra Springs towards O’Creagh’s Run. There was a lake there that we had camped at as a group a few times, and it was one of the locations Namjoon had designated as a rally point for the posse. If we got lost, it was somewhere we would know to look for each other. All Jungkook and I could do was pray someone would find us there.

Ragged, freezing, sore, and terrified, we dismounted Denali by the lake at O’Creagh’s Run just before dawn. As icy as it was, we made sure to fill our pouches and drink enough water. Denali was tired and drank thirstily from the bank, noticeably hesitant to step into the water. 

“Now we wait,” Jungkook said morbidly, stretching his back and meeting my eyes with his.

“Sorry I didn’t get your bedroll… or mine,” I said, looking mournfully at Denali’s saddle and thinking about how little I had remembered to bring. 

“It’s okay,” he quickly reassured me. “You brought some food, right?”

I nodded, remembering that I shoved some miscellaneous cans in his saddle pack to make sure we didn’t starve. “That, at least, I did do.”

We wandered a while on foot leading Denali on the road. I needed it to stretch my legs after the hard ride, but I would have happily collapsed if we could find somewhere safe to rest. Jungkook suggested we find a cave to stay in, since we were right beside a mountain range known for such hideouts. It wasn’t difficult to find a suitable shelter amongst the boulders and jagged cliffs of The Three Sisters, even in the last of the evening’s dim waning moonlight. Jungkook untacked Denali, looking tired as he did so, and let her rest and graze where she pleased for the night. 

The cave was a short, steep trek up a mountainside, and I had to catch myself on slippery rock and loose stones a few times before we made it to the cave. Not tall enough to stand in but deep enough to shelter us from the wind, it looked plenty cozy to spend the night. If it snowed, at least we’d be safe from that as well. It had clearly been used before, as remnants of old fires and smashed wooden boxes littered the floor. A few leaves and feathers blew around as Jungkook dropped Denali’s saddle, and I bent over just enough to fit inside and rummage through the saddlebags for his bow drill. 

“We won’t find any dry wood to burn,” Jungkook sighed, exhausted and a little frustrated, as he sat himself down against the cold stone wall and hugged his coat around himself. 

“I will find some, don’t worry.”

He seemed content to wait for me, possibly too sore, tired, or just worried to bother getting up again. I could relate. It took a while, but I managed to clamber back down the mountain, find some dead logs on the forest floor, hijack their branches for use as firewood, and pick up as much as I could carry of the less-snowed-on logs to cart back up with me. 

Our cave was high above ground level, and as the sun began to peak through the trees to the east, it cast a gorgeous golden glow across the lake and made the fresh, clean water sparkle. I wished I was waking up to a day like this and not needing to sleep through it. 

Jungkook looked about to drift off when I bent over and shuffled inside, arms aching from carrying such a heavy pile all the way up here. Panting slightly as I lit the fire, I thanked God for letting the firewood catch the blaze quickly and begin to cast some much appreciated heat all around us. Jungkook slowly but surely shuffled closer. Our shelter was quite small, but we were frozen, and there was nothing like a warm blaze to defrost your extremities. 

Distracting myself from Jungkook’s sleepy face as it began to flush from the heat, I dug us out a can of food each and sliced them open with my knife. He mumbled a thanks and devoured it as quickly as I did, probably not even noticing what it was. After a drink of water and a few more moments enjoying the warmth on my fingers, I took off my gunbelt and shoes and laid down on the hard, uneven surface, desperate to get some rest. Jungkook shuffled around for a few moments before laying himself behind me and curling against my back. His arm draped around me and I took his hand to lace my fingers with his. With his warmth and affection being my only comfort, I fell asleep before the sun had fully risen.

We slept a good part of the day, and I woke feeling beaten up and dehydrated but toasty-warm and with a smile on my face. Jungkook was resting heavily against me, his arm in the same place it was earlier and his face buried in my hair. Feeling my body protest, I groaned as I turned in his arms and wrapped myself around him. He stirred then, legs stretching and his eyes clenching as he wrinkled his nose, and after a moment he pulled me against him harder and sighed. I couldn't help but chuckle and snuggle into his chest. Always highly affectionate in the morning, Jungkook didn't seem to have let our less-than-ideal situation dampen his waking mood.

Relaxing against me and breathing heavily for a few more moments, I could have believed he'd fallen back to sleep again until he tipped his head down to nuzzle into my hair. 

"Good morning… or afternoon," I croaked. 

Jungkook hummed in response. "If this is a good morning then I don't want to know what a bad one is."

I smirked as I pulled back just enough to look at him, and his sleepy expression made my heart flutter. His hair was a mess and his deep brown lidded eyes blinked slowly as they held mine. "It's good because we're okay. And the others will find us soon." 

He began to look more awake as concern crossed his features. Despite being cuddly, he was still upset. I moved a hand to his nape and pulled him against me to kiss his wrinkled brow. I was sure everything would be fine; we'd scattered like this before and come together again within a few days. Though last time I was with Taehyung and Seokjin, and Jungkook had stayed with his brother. I wasn't sure if he felt more or less safe with me.

“Did everyone just run? When the law came?” Jungkook asked, pulling back to look at me.

“I’m not sure, I just got told to go find you and high-tail it. They may not have even been coming for us.” 

He sighed. “I pray that’s the case.” Watching his concerned face, I couldn't help but wish I could make him feel better. He noticed my expression copying his and relaxed. “Sorry, I’ll try to stop worrying.”

Looking at him now, I couldn’t help but think about the morning before. We’d woken up before dawn in the cabin together, comfortably warm bundled in each other’s arms, and Jungkook surprised me with chaste kisses to my lips before I’d properly opened my eyes. Encouraged by my hum, he pressed against me harder, rousing my usual early-morning desire until I couldn’t help but shove him onto his back and climb on top of him. Seeing his thoughtful expression, I wondered if he was reminiscing about the same thing. 

There was something along those lines in his eyes, a familiar hesitant wanting. I wondered if I should tell him that he never had to hesitate with me. As exciting as it was when he started it, I didn’t have the patience to wait. Jungkook let out a breath at the soft touch of my lips and moved his hand from around me to slip into my coat. His touch dragged up my waist, pulling my shirt untucked and reaching under it to the soft cotton over my ribs. Quick to excite, he deepened the kiss and sighed against my lips with searching fingers finding their way into my underwear, buttons popping open as he stroked downwards. I shivered from his cold fingers, but everywhere he touched lit on fire. 

Equally feverish, I wanted my hands on him as well. I wanted to pin him to the floor or drag him on top of me; anything to get closer, feel more. But I kept still, left my arm loose around his waist, and let him explore as he wanted. I’d learnt how much he could take before he became overwhelmed, and it wasn’t much at all. I was glad he couldn’t get enough of kissing me; I never wanted to stop. His fingernails grazed the skin above my hip and across to my navel before sliding upwards, and his hand trembled just noticeably, giving away his excitement. He brushed over my nipple making me moan, and I took his bottom lip between my teeth before finally caving and threading my fingers through his hair to pull him hard against me. 

His dark moan had me crawling on top of him again, unable to resist. He welcomed my tongue past his lips and arched his back, desperate for more. It wasn’t long before his breaths quickened and his sighs dripped with need. Soon I wouldn’t be able to help myself grinding my hips down just to hear his needy voice bouncing off the cave walls. That was how I knew I needed to stop. 

It was dreadfully difficult to pull away. Every time I broke the kiss I started it again, sucking on his lip and humming against the hot, welcoming cavern of his mouth. Finally, I managed to pull his hands out of my thermals and sit up, but looking at him wasn't any less tempting. With red, wet lips slightly parted to let in and out small puffs of breath, Jungkook pinned me with his lustful gaze, hands no longer trembling when I held them. He eyed my revealed skin hungrily, throat working, and it made me grin before letting his hands go to button it all back up again. Not that I could feel the cold with blood rushing through my veins and painting my skin red. 

Jungkook reached for the fluffy trim of my jacket, and I caught myself on his chest before he could pull me down again. 

“Hey now,” I chuckled. 

“What? I don’t wanna stop,” he breathed, looking a little embarrassed.

“I can see that.”

He searched my eyes, beginning to look slightly cautious. “You want to…?”

“Stop?” I finished for him. “Not  _ really _ , I just don’t want you passing out from all the huffin’ and puffin’ you’re doin.’”

He pouted. “I get excited a little, is all.”

“Me too. That’s why we gotta take a break.” 

He seemed to understand, and he sighed, relaxing a little more when I crawled off him. I searched for our waterskins to start the day hydrated, and once again dug out miscellaneous cans of food to keep us fed. It was still early in the afternoon when we adventured out of the cave and down the mountain. Denali wandered from the bank of the lake to greet us, probably hoping for a snack. To my surprise, Jungkook had managed to find a carrot in his saddlebag, and the golden mare munched on it happily.

We spent the afternoon and some of the evening by the lake practicing spearfishing and archery. Jungkook's bow was a little long for me, but the power could have been higher. He threw off my aim with enthralled poking and squeezing of my biceps every time I drew back, and I couldn't help but laugh as I demanded he stop. It was great to spend some time not worrying. As the sun began to set behind the dense pine woods, I felt calm with Jungkook for the first time in a while. 

As a surprisingly warm night cast darkness across the forest, we climbed back up to our cave, carrying a few fish to show for our efforts. They even made a good meal. We relaxed beside a larger fire that night, not that we needed it as badly, and fell asleep tangled together.

By morning, with the fire fizzled out and the wind picking up, I had practically climbed inside Jungkook's coat to keep warm. I woke to affectionate nuzzling against the top of my head, as usual. My arm around his waist squeezed him closer still, alerting him that I'd woken, and he inhaled deeply, chest swelling against me. I uncurled from him just enough to press my face into the first part of his skin I could, which happened to be his nice warm neck. As I felt more awake, I noticed his breathing was a little faster than it should be, and his body was noticeably tense. His arms were around me as well; one under my head and the other draped around my back, and his wiry muscles flexed and relaxed as though he kept wanting to move and then changed his mind. I wondered if something was wrong, or if there was something he was trying to hide.

I had a theory, and to test it I kissed the soft flesh of his throat. His response was what I expected. His tense muscles shuddered and he caught a soft moan in his throat. I hummed a laugh against his neck and kissed him harder. Jungkook couldn’t control the groan that gave away his state. Being one to often wake up aroused, I could relate to his impatience. I knew what I would have wanted most in his situation, and at the risk of going too fast for him, I dared slide my hand around to his hip and slowly down the front of his thigh. As I teased him with my tongue against his neck, I moved my touch closer to his crotch, just enough that he couldn't have missed my intention. All it took was another small moan and his hips rocking towards me to confirm my suspicions. Confident that this was what he wanted—but about how to go about it not so much so—I simply slid my hand across to his crotch and felt his hardness though cotton layers. 

Touching him wrought the reaction I expected. A shuddering breath blew through my hair before I moved my kisses to his lips. He struggled to coordinate while I rubbed and squeezed him teasingly, and I reluctantly stopped kissing him to let him breathe and watch his reactions. The feeling of his excitement in my hand, and the sight of his pinched brow and shining, parted lips caused hot stabs in my groin. The hunger in his dark eyes was almost too much. As his cheeks began to flush and his rushed breaths became needy moans, I slipped my hand under the waistband to feel his skin. 

His hand on my back suddenly clutched at my coat from the contact. I wished it was a warm day, or that we were in a cozy shelter, because I craved the sight of his wet tip and swollen cock. The feel of it was enough to make me hard as well. I couldn't stand not kissing him any longer, but as I went to, a loud pistol-fire sounded close by, followed immediately by another.

After a mad panic to find our weapons, I crawled to the entranceway to peek out. standing lazily against the stone mountainside, Yoongi slowly turned to meet my eyes, a mildly disapproving look on his face. I was so relieved to see him that I couldn't even find it in me to be embarrassed at what he'd caught us doing. I exhaled the breath I'd been holding since the gunfire scared the life out of me.

"Oh! Christ," I said. “Was that you firin’?”

“Yeah, sorry, I slipped.” His sarcasm confirmed for me that he had indeed caught us.

I couldn't help but smile. “We was just keepin’ warm.”

“Uh-huh." He looked away and down the mountain as he holstered his pistol. Let’s get out of here; Hoseok is waiting.”

I shuffled back inside to see Jungkook laying flat on his back, breaths still laboured, probably more than half way to getting off and now trying to come back down to earth. I couldn't help but chuckle despite feeling rather sympathetic. He met my eyes and then suddenly laughed as well, though he was even redder in the face now, more likely because of embarrassment. Before grabbing armfuls of our things, I crawled to his face and kissed him, unable to resist. He half-heartedly shoved me off him and rolled over to get up, and we packed up our belongings with awkward smiles.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hope you liked the short taste of Jikook~


	20. Picturesque

I re-read through this to do a quick self-beta and I'm not that happy with it but *shrug* I hope it's okay!

~~~~~~~~~~

_ Chapter glossary: _

**Dope:** drugs

**Lickerish:** aroused.

** To run one's face: ** to make use of one's fame/status.

_ Yoongi’s POV _

I woke before dawn with a start to the alarmingly close sound of someone racking a live round into a shotgun chamber. Nothing had ever woken me so fast. I sat up bolt upright and stared down a slightly rusted iron barrel before flicking my squinting gaze up to the man holding it. 

“I’d stay right there if I were you, boy,” he threatened, and the first thing I did was lean around to the side to check on Hoseok. A ‘tsk’ sound came from the tall, fair-haired stranger in front of me as he learnt to block my vision, shotgun almost poking me in the chest. “You think I won’t shoot you?” That was exactly what I thought. If he wanted me dead, he’d have killed me in my sleep. I met his eyes, making sure to look appropriately terrified, and slowly reached under my pillow for a cedar wood handle. 

“What do you want from me?” I rasped, voice still half asleep.

“I want you to hand over yer cash and valuables I know you got stashed in there somewhere,” he said slowly, his shotgun bobbing slightly as he emphasised his words. Confident that he wasn’t any kind of expert with that gun, I made a quick decision to disarm him before he did anything hasty.

“I-it’s in a lockbox,” I stammered, slowly pointing behind me, and the second he moved his eyes I grabbed the barrel of his shotgun and shoved it to the right causing an impulse fire. The slug blasted through the bottom of the wagon, deafening in the otherwise silent morning, and without missing a beat I swung my tomahawk from under my pillow with all the force I could muster. There wasn’t even a scream when the bone blade sliced the side of his skull, lodging itself so deep that I had to kick at his chest to wrench it out again. The lifeless corpse collapsed onto the end of the wagon and rolled to the ground. I dropped both weapons and dove off the wagon towards the campfire. 

Hoseok was still—terrifyingly so—lying face-down by the ashes with a seeping wound on his forehead. I skidded to a stop beside him, fell to my knees, and rolled him onto his back. Filled with panic at the way his neck lolled backwards, I bent to listen for a heartbeat, breathing, anything. Just as I recognised a pulse in his chest, he groaned and stirred. 

“Thank fucking Christ,” I sighed, sitting up and looking down at him.

“ _ Ugh _ , what  _ happened? _ ” he croaked, and his pained squint was replaced by wide, frightened eyes when he looked at me. “Are you all right?” He made to sit up, and I raised my sleeve to wipe at some of the blood on my face.

“I’m fine; what happened to you?” I asked, reaching slightly for the wound on his head, but stopping before I touched him. 

“I don’t remember… Maybe I fell asleep and someone snuck up on me.” He touched the blood that dripped down his eyebrow and winced. “Whose blood is all over you?” He looked no less shocked at realising I wasn’t injured.

“Nobody’s anymore,” I said, attempting to divert his attention from the stranger I’d killed, but he wasn’t going to be swayed from finding out. It only took a glance towards the wagon to see the body, and Hoseok’s startled expression changed to shock. “He was pointing a shot-…” I began, just as Hoseok rolled away from me to be sick. “…-gun… at me.”

He retched until his stomach was empty. I watched awkwardly. I suppose I should have expected his reaction, but I never spent any time around squeamish people. I didn’t know how to comfort him. I could, however, do something with the body. 

Sacrificing a blanket, I disposed of the stranger in the bushes nearby and hoped nobody would look for him. Even bloodier from the caved-in skull, I finally felt the chill of the morning on my wet neck and hands. I made an attempt to clean myself, and my tomahawk, and I eventually gave up when I noticed how much had splattered across the wagon and fur rugs.

Hoseok looked pale, somewhat huddled in a ball on my bedroll, his new coat wrapped around his knees for warmth. I glanced around at the horses by the edge of the woods as they grazed on soft green grass, wondering what I could do or say. It stressed me out to think he was upset with me for killing someone, as he’d made it clear he wasn’t okay with that. I also hated that I made him sick, and I didn’t know how to get his mind off it.

After a few deep breaths and a lot more deliberation, I slowly went to sit beside him again. He didn't move at all but to side-eye me, and I gulped in preparation. 

"I'm sorry," I began not having thought of anything else to say. With his eyes on the ground in front of him again, I didn't feel quite as confronted. "It was him or me."

"I know," came his soft reply. After a beat, he turned his head to look at me, colour returning to his face at long last. "Doesn't make it any easier." 

Feeling guilty and having nothing to add, I nodded, unable to hold his eyes for long. The wound on his forehead got my attention when he turned away again, and I went to our medical supplies to find a rag and some cleaning alcohol. As I crouched beside him again, he moved to lean his weight on his arm so I could get to his head more easily, and I began cleaning away all the drying blood that streaked his face.

"You must think I'm such a pansy," he murmured, and it made me stop and look at him. He glanced up, but only for a second. "That I can't handle this life cause I hate killing."

"I don't," I said plainly. There was quiet after that while I finished cleaning his wound, and I revealed that it was clearly from the butt of a gun. It had begun to swell and redden, but the freezing temperature kept it mostly under control. I was sure it hurt like hell, but he didn't flinch at all. 

We packed up and journeyed further east after refilling our waterskins and sharing a decent breakfast. I never noticed how hungry I was until I started eating these days, and stress could make me go without food for so long I felt like passing out. Luckily, worrying about Hoseok often reminded me that we both needed to eat.

Citali was proving herself to be a calm, confident, intelligent mount. She didn't shy from predators, and she could navigate any terrain. She willingly gave her all even in her unfit state, and she never put a foot wrong. Even bareback and a foot higher off the ground than I was used to, I felt totally comfortable on her back by the time we reached O'Creagh's Run. 

With the lake to our north, we steered Lady down the road that headed straight east. Looking across the water and searching through the thick pine forest, we couldn't see any signs of campers or a golden buckskin horse. The mountain range to the south of us, the Three Sisters, stood out in jagged rocky peaks, famous for its caves and treacherous terrain. If I had come here to hide out, I'd have looked for an empty cave for sure. 

Hoseok led Lady off the road to the side I stood at and pulled Mateo up beside me. "You think they're in there somewhere?"

I nodded. "That's what I'd do, wouldn't you?"

His lips turned down at the corners at that, and then he grinned. "I'm not sure I'd be brave enough."

"Do you wanna stay with Lady?" I asked. "It won't take long to check."

"Not like I'm much use on foot…" he answered with a sigh. 

I slid off Citali's back and handed him the reins. "Please, for God's sake, shout if you need me." 

Hoseok nodded, but he'd never taken my advice on that before, so I made sure to rush my cave inspection. With my Carcano slung over my shoulder, pistols at each hip and bloodstained tomahawk ready in my right hand, I didn't think there was anything I could stumble upon that would be more than I could handle. 

That was assuming I'd meet bandits or vicious wildlife in the first rocky outcrop I ventured through. Instead, as I clambered up a steep slope and peered inside a dark cave, I found them. After a full second of shock, I ducked back behind the rocks, surprised and embarrassed at catching them fooling around. 

"Seriously?" I grumbled and pulled out my volcanic pistol. I fired two shots into the air and waited, satisfied by the scrambling I could hear from inside the cave. It took under ten seconds for Jimin to shuffle to the cave entrance and peer out.

"Oh! Christ," he exclaimed, and I turned just enough to meet his eyes, my back against flat, grey rock. “Was that you firin’?”

“Yeah, sorry, I slipped.”

He grinned, apparently not embarrassed at all about being caught. “We was just keepin’ warm.”

“Uh-huh. Let’s get out of here; Hoseok is waiting.”

After disappearing for a moment and then coming back to the edge of the cave, Jimin clambered past me with his shotgun in one hand and Denali’s saddle draped over his other arm. Right after him, a slightly frazzled and flushed Jungkook appeared, but he couldn’t meet my eyes for more than a split second.

“Morning,” I said, attempting to remain objective about his tousled hair and stubble-burnt lips. He cleared his throat and mumbled it back as he passed me, and we descended towards the road. 

“I see Hoseok found Denali,” Jimin said as the wagon came into view. We startled a herd of wild horses as we slid carefully down the last rocky stretch, and they tossed their heads and neighed as they galloped off into the forest. Our four horses turned their attention towards the whinnies, all of their ears pointed forward and their heads raised high with curiosity. It was picturesque, especially with Hoseok atop Mateo in a comfortable slump, also turned to watch the herd’s departure. I could look at his side profile for hours. 

As we approached and the horses settled, Denali continued greeting the new mare with high-pitched squeals accompanied by tail-swishing and foreleg-stomping. Citali was surprisingly calm, and she let Denali show her who the boss was. 

“Who is this?” Jungkook asked first, and noticed Jimin’s face fall a little in the corner of my vision as he realised.

“Ahote loaned her to us," Hoseok answered, and he and Jungkook clasped hands in greeting as soon as they were within arm's reach. “Good to see you two in one piece.”

“And you,” Jungkook said with a smile.

Jimin asked with a disheartened expression: “for me?” 

“Yes, for you,” I said, trying not to be too annoyed about his hesitance. I would have been devastated if Mateo was injured beyond rideability, but Citali was a real pleasure, and he was lucky to have the use of her. As much as he’d probably enjoy clinging onto Jungkook on Denali all day.

Jimin gave me a slightly sad look before giving a small sigh and a nod. “Who is looking after Tilly?” he asked then, approaching Citali to greet her. The pinto mare sniffed his hand and then his face, large brown eyes curious and soft. 

“Take a guess,” I answered, and Jimin hummed with understanding. 

“I guess we owe the Wapiti quite a bit.”

Jungkook chimed in then, pulling his coat around himself as a cold wind blew. “Not if we gave them the colt, right? He was worth a pretty penny.”

Jimin tacked up Denali as Hoseok agreed with Jungkook. “They gave us a lot for him, but I think they felt in debt to us as well. He’s a valuable horse.”

Jungkook went to his horse to mount up, and Jimin came to Citali’s side. “So what happened, anyway?” he asked as he sized the mare up. Her back was higher than his line of sight, but with his athleticism, he wouldn’t struggle mounting. 

“I’ll explain on the way. Seokjin went to find Namjoon and Taehyung, so we should meet them as well.”

“Where to?” Jungkook asked, sitting down in Denali’s saddle.

“Twin Stack Pass,” Hoseok and I said at the same, and I resisted glancing at him as I climbed into the wagon. Jimin faced his new mount’s side and hopped once in preparation before springing onto her back with ease. He shuffled around and got comfortable, and I didn’t miss the way he peered towards the ground as he gathered the reins. Citali was almost twice Tilly’s height, and she made him look quite small. At least she was a placid mare. 

The southward journey towards Emerald Station was filled with easy conversation, and for the first time, I found myself enjoying it. Not just because chatting with Hoseok made me strangely euphoric, but because I finally knew Jungkook was safe. And Jimin, I guess. We talked about our past couple of days, explaining what had happened at the farm, with the Wapiti, and what goods we'd received in exchange for Zeek. Hoseok talked about his wound feeling better, and about wanting to help me retrain Mateo. Jungkook talked about Denali throwing them both because of a distant wolf howl on the journey to O'Creagh's Run, and Jimin reminisced about the comforts of the farm, missing it already. 

My contribution was only ever after being prompted. Jungkook asked why there was so much blood on my coat, so I explained the attempted robbery, and Jimin asked where I got my new weapon. The journey passed so quickly that I was shocked to notice the sun beginning to set. We were by Emerald Ranch when Hoseok turned to me and spoke quietly so not to interrupt Jimin's story. 

“We can stay here the night if you don't mind a little farm work.”

I shouldn't have been surprised. “And spoil Jimin with sleeping indoors again?”

He picked up on my sarcasm and grinned. It was a picturesque little farm in the centre of New Hanover, surrounded by rolling green hills and teeming with fat, healthy livestock. Of course I agreed we should spend the night, because the alternative of sleeping out in the open was more dangerous when the law was sniffing around.

Jimin and Jungkook followed the wagon obediently, lost in their own little world as I steered it down the centre of Emerald Ranch and halted by the barn. It didn’t often snow in The Heartlands, but this winter was merciless, and the evening brought the beginnings of a snowstorm. The wind wasn’t too strong when I jumped off the wagon to help Hoseok dismount, but it whipped our hair around and made it difficult to see. 

“Seamus!” Hoseok called over the wind, and I noticed the man he was talking to by the barn doors. Sitting and smoking on a timber bench, Seamus squinted at us for a moment before rising and approaching. 

“Now what do you think yer doin’ here?” he said when he was in conversation range, his face lit up by the lantern hanging on the barn awning. He would have been in his late thirties or early forties, and despite the hard lines of his face and his unfriendly expression, his tone was somewhat pleasantly surprised. How predictable that Hoseok was known and liked here too. 

Standing without support from me now, Hoseok clasped hands with Seamus and sparked up a polite exchange. After some slight fabrications about our situation, we were given his blessing to use a couple of farmhand rooms for the night on the proviso that we feed and water the animals and muck out the yards at dawn.

“You sure yer in the state for that kinda work?” Seamus asked Hoseok, though he could see the rest of us were in fine shape.

Hoseok brushed his concern off, acting like everything was fine. We didn’t dwindle long in the dark, and Hoseok limped beside Lady into the barn to park the wagon and unhitch her. Mateo was designated a stable, and the mares were let loose in a spare yard. 

“Look at that: a cosy night for nothing but a bit of work. We should get Hoseok to run his face more often.” Jungkook’s tone was full of wonder. We piled our belongings into the hall of the farmstead and Seamus mumbled some semblance of a well wish before disappearing to escape the cold. I made sure to bring inside Hoseok’s medicine bag and plenty of food. In the dark and quiet now, Jimin searched for a lantern to light, and I shuffled into the cramped living room to start a fire.

Crowded around the blaze on an old leather couch—not that we had much of a choice in the tiny cabin—we filled up on dried meat and canned foods. Hoseok shared a small bag of hard candies and a bottle of fragrant wine he had stashed away in his saddlebags from our short shop in Valentine, which delighted Jungkook and Jimin. With the fire crackling away for over half an hour, our little shelter became quite comfortably warm. The wine was as sweet as it smelt, and it was a welcome change from hard liquor, though it gave me a different feeling to the drinks I was used to. As I noticed myself getting sleepy crammed between the edge of the couch and Jimin’s butt, I made the decision to haul myself up and get to bed. A long and possibly stressful day looking for our other half would only go well if I got enough sleep.

My action caused everyone else to follow suit, and we shuffled around the tiny floorspace until we all had shed out boots and coats and fetched our blankets. Jungkook pulled Jimin into the first room, and I eyed the second and only other tiny bedroom. Hoseok noticed my hesitance as the first bedroom door closed, leaving us functionally alone. 

“You can sleep out here by the fire if you want,” he offered. “I won’t get any rest on a couch.” 

Thinking about it, I would definitely fall asleep with wine in my system, but it wouldn’t be restful on a couch. On top of that, the last time I’d been pressed up against him had been the best sleep of my life. I noted after all of that rushed through my brain that I’d been staring at him as he waited for my answer.

“Or,” he began, looking as though he felt a little awkward. “We can share the bed.”

I glanced down at the half bottle of wine in his hand and tried to remember how to act normal.

“Yeah, uh… I won’t get a great sleep on a couch either.”

We didn’t speak again for a while, busying ourselves spreading extra blankets on the bed, and we sat side by side against goosefeather pillows to continue the wine. Although I was beginning to feel drunk myself, he didn't look it, but he would have been considering his tolerance. His brows raised at me as he noticed me subtly watching him, and a smile flickered on lips for a moment before he broke the silence. 

“I forgot to get my medicine.”

I reached into my trouser pocket to grab the vial I’d stashed there earlier, and his slightly shocked glance at it slowly made way for a grin.

“You really are a great nurse.” 

I handed it to him and watched as he finished the last dose. “Just wanted to make sure you got some sleep.”

Hoseok thanked me as I took back and capped the empty laudanum vial. “Last one?” He confirmed, and I hummed a yes. “ Ahhhhh… ” he sighed, relaxing against his pillows. “I'll have to make the most of this, then.”

I didn't enjoy the thought of him being in pain, but it was the favourable alternative to addiction, which would have plagued him had he taken such powerful pain relief for a longer period. 

“Seokjin has excellent teas and ointments for pain as well. And I reckon it’s mostly healed anyway, right?” Something about Hoseok always made me talk too much. Stringing two sentences together more than once a day was basically verbal diarrhoea for me. 

“The pain hasn't been too much lately. You saw I can walk a little when I’m not too cold.” He raised the knee of his bad leg and propped it up against the wall to his left, bare foot flat on the fox hide rug. “I will miss not feeling the cold so much when I’m better though.”

I did wonder how he had survived this long not wrapped in layers and layers of furs all the time. Even back at the farm, he coped well in his light coat and with one entire leg of his underwear missing. I would have been too cold even in this warm room was the wine not burning under my skin. I wondered how much warmer laudanum would make me.

“Is this your first time using opiates?”

Hoseok shook his head, nose wrinkling for a second. “I broke my arm when I was eleven and the doc put me on ‘em for a while. I mostly got my dope from the Wapiti.” He said the last part with a mischievous smile, and it made my expression match his, though more subtly. The native people were well-known for their smoking; even I knew that. Thinking about them, and about Hoseok, I took a deep gulp of wine before asking my next question. 

“What’s the deal between you and Ahote anyway?”

I waited nervously while he mulled over how to answer that. He took the wine and had his own long swallow. “He was like a little brother at the start. His parents took me in, and he kinda idolised me.” 

I almost didn’t want him to go on, but I’d started this, so I waited, possibly even more anxious to find out if what I suspected was true. Somehow, I did and didn't want to know at the same time. 

“I was bad at everything they tried to teach me except riding, but everyone around my age was supportive. But Ahote… he went to any length to help me, whether it was hunting, fighting, making weapons, anything… and by the time he was about sixteen I could tell he was sweet on me.” I felt my stomach drop. “Which was fine. We probably fooled around for a year or so before I decided to leave.”

His words echoed in my brain, and I had to say something to shut it up. “You just left?”

He licked his lips while he thought, his expression reflecting slight discomfort. “I didn’t fit in. Even after, what… six years? I was still different. And there was a great big world out there to see. Even… even if I wanted to stay with Ahote and the tribe, I could never have had what I wanted… Ahote was expected to marry and have a family. And he will; he likes girls just fine. But he might not have if I’d stayed.” 

I was happy to let that conversation die. A few more gulps of wine later, I managed to distract myself from mental images of him ‘fooling around’ with the native kid.

While high on his opioids, or while drinking, Hoseok was usually relatively quiet around me unless I started the conversation, but with this much alcohol in his bloodstream at the same time as the drugs, his craving for chatter seemed insatiable. After a short while of quiet company, it appeared they'd kicked in, because he suddenly felt the need to fill the silence. Even after today, he was still the only person who didn’t ever annoy me with his small-talk. 

“Have you taken laudel-... laudnen… laudanum before?" 

I felt my brow quirk as he struggled with that, and I looked over at him. His expression was expectedly blissful and his skin was blotchy red across his cheeks and neck. “No, I haven't been injured like that before.” Aside from gunshots, but they had all been flesh wounds.

Hoseok stretched his good leg back out along the pelt blanket again and hummed slightly. “I’m a touchy drunk,” he reminded me, which would have been enough to set my cheeks on fire with the memory of being cuddled against him that night, but he hadn’t finished. “But mix drink and the pain relief and…” His pause emphasised the look on his face when he arched his back a little and tipped his head further into his pillows, silky black hair fanning over his ear and splaying out across the cotton covers. “…gets me all lickerish.”

Combined with the euphoric look on his features, his words made me swallow thickly, and I couldn’t stop staring at his sharp jawline and slender neck. His eyelids fluttered softly and his lips were slightly parted. Just looking at him like this was getting  me all lickerish.

“So you try not to take them together,” I said quietly, my voice weak while the rest of my sentence reverberated in my head.  _ Because it turns you on.  _ It reminded me of the evening before, when I'd asked if he was going to take his painkillers.  _ It'd make me too… sleepy, _ he said. I finally understood his hesitation. ‘Sleepy’ wasn’t what he’d meant at all.

“When I know I’m gonna share a bed, for sure.”

I could feel tension crawling across my muscles; the kind that came when I was equally ready to escape or engage. I imagined everything he was deliberately leaving out and it made a slow burn climb up my neck.

Talking felt like the only thing I could do. “Sounds uncomfortable.”

Hoseok looked over at me with lidded eyes and a slight grin showing his teeth. “Only when I have to bear it.” His eyes moved to his hand as he slid it down his left thigh and back up, fingers splayed and lightly clenched over the fabric of his trousers. “And I don’t have the best self control.”

I bit my lip, pulse thudding in my ears. Hoseok shook me like nothing else, and seeing him with flushed cheeks and slightly tenting trousers anywhere but in my dreams was too much. As though living one of those unsolicited dreams, all logic was forfeit while we lounged against the headrest, intoxicated and aroused. 

“Don’t let me stop you,” I offered, my voice hardly more than a breath. The way he looked at me then was less bold, as though a realisation came to him. He moved his hand to his crotch then, his eyes lingering in mine while he gripped himself and sighed. Maybe it was my reaction that made him suddenly roll onto his side, holding himself up, and reach his other hand to me instead. I caught his arm out of shock and stared at him, just inches from me on the bed now, but I loosened my grip the moment I felt the contact of his palm. He hesitated just slightly, but reading my expression encouraged him. This is what my body had been wanting over those long, excruciating hours of lying awake in bed, and there was something so delicious about it being Hoseok who did it to me.

Squeezing his arm a little now, but with no intention of pulling it away, I felt my hips lift into the pressure of his hand. He grinned slightly as he watched my body react, his breaths coming quicker as he rubbed me harder. My heart was aflame, racing and skipping beats as I tried to come to terms with what was happening. 

“You don’t touch yerself, do ya?” he asked, not quite patronising, just curious, and it took my brain a while to catch up. “‘Cause yer Catholic?”

I went to answer him and my breath hitched making him stop for long enough to let me speak. Embarrassed, I let his arm go then, unsure of why I was still clasping onto him. With his eyes in mine and his face so close to me, I needed a few more seconds to calm down before I could reply. 

After catching my breath while staring rapturously into his eyes for several long moments I skipped his first question. Clearly he’d figured that out all on his own. “S-something like that.” I was raised Protestant but still made to feel bad about self pleasure. It hadn’t really come up in my life since I was young, anyway. Until a couple of months ago.

His touch ghosted upwards to the top button of my pants, long fingers popping it open easily. He made short work of the rest, and he didn’t hesitate before opening my underwear from my chest down. Feeling nervously excited—and, now that he was staring at my nakedness, utterly exposed—I bunched the blankets beside me in my fists and watched his hand wrap confidently around my cock. 

It was impossible to conceal my panting breaths, as ashamed as I felt to be coming undone from his touch. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy testing how sensitive I was. With varying pressure and practiced movements he made my muscles tense and tremble. He teased gently for a while, keeping me wanting more, and occasionally experimented by squeezing my tip or rubbing his thumb hard into my shaft, and it made me groan and buck into his hand. Before it built up too much, he always let me come back down and linger in gradually more maddening desperation. 

It was only minutes before I started to feel tendrils of heat lashing outwards from my groin, up my back and down my thighs. When his hand slid away and across my hip, I slumped against the bed and noticed how tense I’d been. I watched curiously as he took my right hand and pulled it to wrap around my throbbing length.

Suddenly confronted but too far along to argue, I attempted to mimic what he’d been doing. I was feverish with a need I wasn't used to feeling so strongly. So hyper-aware of him beside me, when he rolled onto his back and dug his hand into his own trousers it almost distracted me enough to stop while I watched. Not that I could see anything but his wrist disappearing under dark cotton as he rubbed himself in a fast rhythm. 

A needy tone of voice leaked into his sigh as he watched me as well. I wanted to hear that sound again and again. It all began to blur together as the clenching of my muscles peaked, and a wave of pleasure surged through me and dragged me over the edge. My knees bent just a touch and my head tipped back as a shocked moan was dragged from my throat. Hoseok made a similar sound in response, and I felt his eyes on me as I shot a mess all up my stomach. I shook and twitched through it, wanting never to stop tugging at myself but too hypersensitive to do it for long.

Trembling and euphoric, I moved my gaze to his crotch again for a moment and then up to his eyes. Glistening with a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead, he stared where my clothing was still open and my hand still rested loosely wrapped around my cock. Absently, he licked his lips before moving his eyes to meet mine. With his mouth open and quick, hot breaths tumbling out, I could tell he wasn't far off, either. He wiggled his brows at me with the hint of a grin before his breath caught and he went all tense. My eyes wandered down his jaw to the veins showing on his neck, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss him, anywhere, everywhere. 

He let out a quiet, ecstatic moan as he finished, watching himself as a damp patch formed on his underwear that was exposed under his shirt. I felt heat buffet me all over just from that. I watched his stomach rising and falling under white cotton, heavy breaths the only thing I could hear. I finally found the strength to move and covered myself again, fingers fumbling with buttons that had never been so difficult before. 

I didn't know how I felt about what had happened yet. It felt good, but odd. His confidence made me curious, as did the indeterminate reason he'd even touched me in the first place. God knows I wanted him to. But when making conversation with him was like drawing blood from a stone, I couldn't think of a reason why he'd want to do something so intimate with me, of all people. 

"Good thing we got new long johns yesterday, eh?" he whispered with a hint of his laboured breathing still in his voice. 

I glanced over at the wet patch just above his trousers and couldn't help but smirk, albeit weak and awkward. He definitely felt more casual than I did. He shuffled to get under the covers then, and I managed to move my heavy legs to do the same. Even with his eyes closed he looked blissful, which made sense for someone who was drunk, high, and post-orgasm. Watching his pretty side profile as he drifted off, I eventually fell into a deep sleep as well, but the confusion lingered and summoned the oddest dreams. 

~~~~~~~~~~

You're now all caught up to the AFF version of this fic! I will update them both at the same time from now on. (If Red Dead would stop being so glitchy I'd have made more gifs by now >_>) Hope you liked the Hogi!!  


Wish I could have made a gif with all 4 of them traveling together, but sadly I am just one person ^^; at least you can see Emerald Ranch!


	21. Sitting Ducks

I am a waterfall re-reading this chapter. Don't say I didn't warn you.

~~~~~~~~~~

_Chapter Glossary:_

**Ȼelanen:** (as far as I can tell) it means ‘orgasm’ in Sencoten

 **Landed:** set for life, super rich

 **Mad as a March Hare:** very angry

 **Pirooting:** having sex

  
  
  
  


_Seokjin’s POV_

  
  


Luna didn't have the fastest gallop, but she got me where I needed to go safely and confidently. We picked our way west down the treacherous snowy mountain range to Barrow Lagoon by morning. Within moments of spotting the frozen water, I noticed the small camp my companions had made and let Luna trot excitedly towards Voltaire and Frost. Sheltering from icy Ambarino winds against a small cliff, the smoke from their fire billowed almost invisibly away into the misty dawn. 

"Jin!" Namjoon called, struggling to his feet, probably as frozen solid as I was. I slid carefully out of Luna's saddle and returned a relieved hug. "Where are the others? What happened?" 

Taehyung stayed by the fire, but he watched us with interest. I followed Namjoon to get warm and we sat side by side on his bedroll across from Tae.

"Hoseok and Yoongi went to find Jimin and Jungkook. The Wapiti are looking after Tilly. The law came picking around because of the foolish bloody raid at Bacchus Station."

Namjoon and Taehyung exchanged a moment of eye contact, and I could see suppressed guilt in both of their expressions. "We didn't do it to start trouble," Joon defended. "The Laramie were holding up innocent civilians and probably planning to rob the train."

I sighed, rubbing my face with slightly defrosted leather gloves. "We don't live tidy enough lives to act like vigilantes, Namjoon. Guards and civilians saw you there and would be able to point you out in a line up. That's awful bad news for us."

"Okay, okay; you've made yer point." He sighed as well, the sigh he gave when he was admitting he was wrong. He shuffled around the fire a little to grab something from his saddlebag, and I gratefully accepted a can of food, however frozen solid it was. I sat it by the fire for a while and warmed my stiff limbs in silence. 

After a little while, I added: "Yoongi will bring the others to Twin Stack Pass when he can, so we should head there next."

Namjoon simply nodded in response, looking tired and deep in thought. Taehyung, flushed face lit orange by the flickering blaze, looked somewhat miserable. He was bad at hiding it. But, after my attempts to figure out what ailed him had been brushed off just hours ago, I didn't have any desire to ask again so soon. If he wanted to mope all alone, so be it. 

We slept a few hours huddled close to the fire and woke when the sun was already high in the sky. It was always the same after stressful events; most of us slept deeply from such exhaustion. We managed to haul our frozen bodies onto horseback and travel south through deep, settled snow for the entire day before finally making it out of Ambarino and back onto solid ground. It didn’t get much less frigid, much to my distaste. I wanted to go on through the evening to make it to Valentine so we could sleep indoors, but Namjoon insisted we stay out of populated places. I understood, but I groaned about it for a while. At least in the lightly wooded hills south of Cattail Pond there was shelter from some of the bitter wind, and we once again slept through the night by a warm blaze. 

On the road the next day, it was Taehyung's turn to complain about bypassing Valentine. "I need a bath, badly, and a better winter coat," he whined. I'd hardly heard him say as many words in the past few days, and when he had spoken, it had been in that same tone.

By Namjoon's irritated _'ugh'_ I could tell I wasn't alone in noticing. "You wanna risk getting arrested, Taehyung, be my guest. I'm sick of your damn moaning." In seconds he and Frost were cantering towards the town, and Namjoon pointed his frustrated glare straight ahead between Voltaire's ears. 

I wanted to ignore it, but I couldn’t. "I'm not letting him go alone," I said, and Namjoon looked at me with a defeated expression that reflected how I felt. 

"Me neither, I guess," he sighed, and we turned the horses to canter after the little grey mare and her dejected rider.

Much of the afternoon passed as we tried to act normal in town, buying a few supplies like heavier coats, alcohol, and food. Namjoon and Taehyung drank at the saloon while I bathed, and I perused the sale stock at the stables while I waited for them to do the same. At least one of us needed a clear head for the rest of the journey. 

Namjoon pulled me away from my marvelling over a tall, handsome ardennes stallion and we set off again. Luna seemed tired and sore by the evening, so at our camp just west of Citadel Rock, I untacked her and gave her a long massage while she ate her dinner. At least I could chat to her without feeling awkward and ignored. 

I braved sitting on Taehyung's side of the fire that evening. Now, instead of dejected and mournful, he looked dejected, mournful, and tense. It was me; it had to be me. He held an open bottle of rum resting on his crossed legs in one hand, the other hand was bunched in his lap, posture rigid, jaw clenched.

While Namjoon scrubbed Valentine mud from his saddle over by the horses, I racked my brain for what I could say to Taehyung to get him to open up. He'd never been like this before in all the years I'd known him. It would be frustrating if it was just this mood, but the way he acted like he was specifically averted to me was salt in the wound. After this long avoiding it, I couldn't bear it anymore.

"Nice to be out of the snow?" I asked casually, gauging his reaction before I delved deeper. He looked at me, a guarded but otherwise pleasant expression, and although forced, it was relieving. I'd half expected him to glare. At least I could take from it that he didn't want me to think he was upset. Considering how petty he could be, I knew he wasn't angry with me if he didn't want me to know about it. 

"Mmm. Sick of it." His voice was another relief. Deep and level; he sounded normal. He still wasn't—I couldn't pretend that his defensive posture was the slightest bit ordinary—but it meant he was trying. Trying not to seem verklempt. Trying to hide that it was me making him feel that way. 

I didn't have the patience for small talk while he offered me unexpected attention. It was one of my flaws. "You ready to talk about what's ruffled yer feathers yet?"

He'd been taking a swig of his rum, and he coughed at my words, spluttering before wiping his mouth and frowning down into the fire. "I'm just… going through something, all right?" He croaked and cleared his throat. 

Too invested to leave it there, I pressed him further. "Yeah, I noticed. Just… can't help but feel like it's about me, and, well, it feels like shit, Tae."

His frustrated expression faltered. I eyed him intently, watching his lips twitch into grimace as he battled with something. The way he refused to look at me was haunting. So many terrible things came to mind, scrambling in my brain until I was more than terrified of what was causing him to act like this. 

"It-it's me, not you," he said shortly, unconvincingly. "I-it’s-…" He paused, gulped, let out a shuddering sigh, and then slammed his bottle against the grassy ground and stood. I just watched, devastated, as he marched down the side of the hill away from camp and sank down into a crouch, head in his hands. 

I'd gone much too far, and I had no idea what I could do to make it right. Maybe it had nothing to do with me at all and he simply wasn't ready to talk. As Namjoon came to sit himself across the fire from me, I met his eyes. His expression was a grim smile, sympathetic. 

"Give him time," he began, looking away from me to the fire and holding out his hands to warm them. "He'll be okay."

I got the feeling he knew something I didn't, but I was too shaken to try to find out what. 

I couldn't eat that night. I ended up dozing off some time later, agonising over my confusing and miserable situation. At some point Taehyung must have come back to camp to sleep, because when I woke he was huddled under his furs by Namjoon's side of the fire, just his hazelnut hair, softly-fluttering eyelids, and pink nose visible outside the covers. I felt a wave of sadness at the thought of waking him from such peace. I hadn't seen his brow so uncreased in days. As it turned out, he was woken soon after by Namjoon stirring and kicking him in the head.

Another tense ride in silence followed as we journeyed further east towards our destination. Citadel Rock was only an hour of gentle cantering from Twin Stack Pass, and it felt relieving to be so close to our goal. At least we’d be together again soon. 

As the white-cliffed canyon came into view, a suspiciously unreal birdcall caught our attention. Namjoon and I met gazes, the same curious and slightly concerned look in our eyes, just before Taehyung suddenly said with shock: "Ahote?"

I glanced at him and followed his gaze into the forest over the train tracks, confused until I noticed the shaded figures by the trees. Indeed, disguised by dark skin and painted faces, a few Wapiti men hid crouched behind the underbrush. The birdcall had been a signal, I assumed, and Namjoon led us across the tracks to meet them. 

"I'm glad we caught you," Ahote said quietly, not moving out of the treeline as we dismounted to greet him and his companions. 

"What brings you out to the Heartlands?" Namjoon asked, approaching confidently. He was usually cautious with anybody outside the posse, but he seemed to trust the Wapiti. 

"We had some business in Valentine, but we happened to overhear a concerning conversation from some shady-looking men."

That sounded troubling. "About what?" I asked instinctively.

"About some Asian fellows with a wagon and a stolen black and white stallion."

Namjoon pointed an expression at me that stank of _'_ _I told you so,_ _'_ with pursed lips and a raised brow. He didn’t need any more reason to be untrusting of Hoseok, but it seemed the reasons kept coming. 

"I didn't hear it all, but I figured they must mean your gang." Ahote asked, and Namjoon and I said at the same time: 

"We're not a gang."

Ahote smirked, a typically attractive amused expression, and raised his hands in defence. 

"Okay, okay. But we did hear that they planned some kind of revenge. I wanted to warn you to be careful of something like that."

 _Revenge._ That was the last thing we needed. It occured to me, though, that Namjoon was awfully intent on placing the blame on Hoseok for his illegal activities when he wasn’t exactly a law-abiding citizen himself. It didn’t seem like the time to address it, so I pushed it to the back of my mind to focus on the present. Ahote’s pinto pony Kanti nickered from behind our friends, and Luna whinnied back. I patted her neck absently as Namjoon came up with a way to respond.

“We planned to meet up with the others nearby… I’m wondering now if we should take extra precautions,” Namjoon mused.

Ahote nodded, looking at the taller male beside him as he pondered as well. “We could make a camp someplace where we can stay discreet while watching the road to see your gang-uh… _friends_ … coming.”

Namjoon looked at Tae and me as though to ask for our approval, and I shrugged in response. “Safety in numbers, right?”

  
We found a small secluded clearing nearby to pitch a temporary camp and relax for a while. It was surprisingly comfortable despite not knowing our company all that well. Aside from the stoic Taehyung who sat just far enough away from everyone else so as not to be engaged in conversation. I tried to ignore him while we chatted, but I desperately wanted him to come around. Even with such interesting chatter from Ahote as we passed the time trading stories, I couldn’t help but miss Taehyung’s smile.

“Why did Hoseok steal that stallion anyway?” one of the other Wapiti men asked. He’d been introduced to me three times, but I couldn’t pronounce his name, so I didn’t remember it in the slightest. “I thought he was landed.”

My eyes widened at that. I knew he was doing okay for himself, but I didn’t think he was considered rich. Namjoon seemed just as surprised.

“Out of spite, if I remember correctly,” Joon grumbled. He shuffled to uncross his legs, boots kicking up a patch of grass, and he cut open a can of beans to dig into it. Even seeing him eat, I didn’t feel hungry; hadn’t all day.

“Spite? What happened?” Ahote asked.

With a mouthful, Namjoon explained. “Darn Braithewaites didn’t pay him right. Lad was mad as a march hare.”

Ahote chuckled, eyes clenching for a second, and his friends laughed along with him. “Hoseok angry is the sweetest thing.”

Namjoon choked.

“Sweetest?” I asked, confused by his choice of words.

“He _rarely_ gets angry,” Ahote explained. “So when he does, it’s just… very cute.”

“Didn’t you say there was only one other time he made that face?” One of the others said, and Ahote hushed him, still grinning.

The third Wapiti tuned in then, smirking knowingly. “Oh yeah, _ȼelanen_ you said.”

I couldn’t help but smile at their amusement, despite my confusion at the foreign word, and Ahote’s cheeks darkened as he hushed his friends.

The first looked at my confusion and translated. “Ah it’s like… hmm, while pirooting?”

Ahote had his head in his hands then, fingers weaved through his thick black hair. I was a mix of surprised and embarrassed to learn such a thing about Hoseok, however close they’d seemed when I saw them together. I was still getting used to Hoseok being into men.

“Thanks, friends,” Ahote said sarcastically, righting himself. “New subject?”

The evening passed quickly, sun setting and taking with it every iota of warmth. As much as we didn’t want to make ourselves obvious to a passer-by with fire, we didn’t want to freeze. At least we had twice the party size now; the three of us wouldn't have been much of a threat. I made sure to leave a personal-space bubble around Taehyung—something I never imagined I'd have to do—so that he'd come sit close enough to warm up. By the time my ability to forcefully ignore him wore out, he was already fast asleep against a log, hat over his face and arms crossed over his chest holding his new coat closed. I tried not to let it show how much I wanted to talk to him, how much I wanted him to be okay. I prayed that time was all he needed.

Ahote and Namjoon dozed off not long after, and myself and the tallest Wapiti stayed awake to watch the camp. We whispered occasionally, keeping each other company. He tried to explain how to pronounce his name a few more times, and I really, really tried to get it right. 'Tsiishch'ili' just didn't quite roll off the tongue. His sleeping friend's name was Sahale, which I had a lot less trouble learning and remembering. Luckily, he took it with a laugh and a smile instead of getting offended, and he admitted that some of our names were difficult to pronounce for him and his tribe as well. 

"I _know_ I don't say 'Seokjin' correctly," he said with a grin.

I shrugged. "You can call me Jin." 

By morning I was very ready for sleep, so while those well rested kept an eye on the road, Tsiishch'ili and I got a few hours of shut-eye. Despite the bright sun and morning chill, I dozed off quickly and didn't wake until after noon. As disorienting as it was to rouse in the middle of the day, seeing Taehyung's sombre expression as he stroked my horse's neck was awfully sobering. Immediately I felt awake and alert. It just wasn't right. 

I hauled myself up and stretched. As I looked around, I noticed it was only the three of us, my still-sleeping friend making up the third body. Taehyung eyed me for a moment, a hint of curiosity in his eyes before he turned away from Luna and dawdled away to pet his own horse. I sighed.

Seeing that our mounts looked happy and cared-for, I tucked into a packet of crackers while flicking through some of the notes I'd written down in my sad-excuse-for-a-journal. If I was going to be left in the dark about where Namjoon went, I could at least make myself useful recording some recent events in case any of this was important later. 

Snapping me out of my focus on a nature scene doodle, the other half of our party rode into camp at a gentle walk, waking Tsiishch'ili. 

"Sleep all right?" Namjoon asked, swinging out of the saddle and patting Voltaire's neck. 

"Like a baby. Where are you returning from?"

"Just Valentine. We didn’t see any sign of our potential attackers, but I brought some fresh bread and dark rum."

I nodded, closing my book. "I do love good news."

We shared a delicious, soft loaf of buttered bread in comfortable silence, watching the road and going about usual daily business. Travellers on the road paid us no heed when they noticed us nestled in the woods close by. Nothing out of the ordinary came to our attention while the sun dipped below white cliffs and painted the horizon a spectacular swatch of orange and pink. I generously offered to stay sober for the night, refusing Namjoon's offer of strong-smelling booze. Tsiishch'ili offered to be my sentry buddy again, and we watched with amusement for a couple of hours as our companions descended into drunkenness. 

It was surprisingly joyous to be in the Wapiti boys' company. We didn't know them well, but they were endlessly friendly and talkative. I wished I could have been drinking. Being intoxicated would have allowed me the freedom to fully enjoy the evening instead of constantly eyeing Taehyung to see if the rum was making him feel any better. He smiled, at least. But while the others were in stitches from a funny story, he would look down at his cup, lips curled up slightly at the corners, and then the expression was gone, almost as though it was just out of politeness.

As the rowdiness died down and it began to look like bedtime, I ventured a short way into the woods to relieve myself. The horses all grazed peacefully nearby, Luna and Voltaire socialising with the Wapiti horses and Frost attempting to show them who was boss. At least their personalities were consistent. 

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Taehyung trudge through the underbrush a short way from me for the same reason, and he sighed heavily as he took a leak, only a small tree and a few feet between us. The whole forest of the Heartlands and he chose to piss right next to me. I hoped that meant he had something to say. 

Being cautious to give him every opportunity, I lingered until he was done. It turned out I was right. As he faced me I became uncharacteristically nervous. Whatever he was about to tell me painted his face with apprehension. Even flushed and heavy from the alcohol, he looked at me quite focused and intent. 

I stepped closer to him as the words that came out seemed quieter than he meant for them to. "Just… could you just tell me," he began, not looking at me any more, brows pinched and shoulders rising and falling with deep breaths. "I-if it's… if it's never gonna be me? If you're…" He paused and swallowed thickly, and even though I didn't understand quite yet, the tears streaking down his cheeks made it feel much worse. 

"Tae, what are you talking about?" I almost begged, getting closer to him again. 

He looked at me properly then, eyes shining as they held mine, though not without a struggle. His breaths shuddered. "I've got… I've always had… feelings for you. Love. I'm in love with you." His voice got stronger as he explained, but it didn't stop his shaking breaths or falling tears. 

And suddenly it made sense. At least, it made sense that he was unusually upset since bath day at the hot springs when Namjoon joked about my visit with a prostitute, and it made sense that he was embarrassed and frightened for me to find out. It didn't make sense aside from that, because… how could it? How could he be in love with me? Why would he? Why would it take this long for it to come out? Usually, I liked to think of myself as being understanding, selfless, and caring, but I couldn't bring myself to comfort him, or even answer him. 

_Tell me if it's never gonna be me._

My mind moved too quickly. I couldn’t make sense of anything. I didn't understand how it ever could be him; the notion was just so foreign. Had he hinted and I'd missed it? Had I ignored it all these years? Was I even attracted to men? 

"Please," he begged, and I hated the way he cried even more then, like he couldn't stay brave forever. "So I can… just move on." 

But still, even though the confronted thoughts in my brain were shock and negative feelings more than anything, I wasn't tempted to say no. I didn’t want to tell him anything like that without more time to think. Never was too strong a word. 

Finding my eyes again, he searched, pleading. I just stared back, lost for words, scrambling for something to say that would convey my ambivalence and give me more time. Some moments later he gave up, and nodding gently with a defeated expression, he backed away a few steps before turning to march to camp. I swayed a little, feeling suddenly weak from the shock. What the hell was I supposed to do with that information? 

The next day, we found ourselves feeling concerned. It was quite a distance from O'Creagh's Run to here, but it had been days. Assuming nothing was wrong, Yoongi should have been able to lead them here by yesterday morning, Namjoon and I theorised. So by the time it had been a whole day longer than we predicted, we began to make plans for if they never arrived. 

"Is there somewhere else you can go in an emergency like this? Or somewhere you can send mail?" Ahote asked, looking concerned himself. 

"We have contacts," Namjoon began, nodding. "A few people across the country would keep an ear to the ground for us if we became truly lost and desperate."

I nodded as well, thinking of all the friends we'd made throughout the years. There were also my parents, who were overjoyed every time I came to visit, even if I brought with me a vagabond posse. To them we were family. 

"Give them until the afternoon?" I suggested, and looked around to the silently agreeing faces. 

And by the afternoon, suddenly our companions were no longer our biggest problem. At the distant sound of a high-powered rifle firing, we all ducked in shock, but one of us was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sahale was knocked back by the force of the sniper's bullet. From his casual arms-crossed stance by the grazing horses, he fell hard against the forest floor with a sharp cry, opposite arm clutching his shoulder. We all got low and found something to hide behind. 

"It came from the cliffs," Ahote hissed, daring to peek around the tree he hid behind. "We need to get to the horses or we're sitting ducks." 

I rushed to pull Sahale behind cover, careful of the deep bullet wound in his deltoid. He clenched his teeth and eyes in pain, but he helped me move him with his feet pushing against the ground until I leant him against a tree and inspected the wound. I made the quick decision to rip a makeshift bandage from my shirt and tie it over the wound. It was the fastest I'd ever done, but it looked firm enough for now. The bullet had come out the other side, so I just wanted to stop the bleeding until we were safe again. Another shot rang out as I tied it off, but I was too concentrated even to flinch. I helped him up as we dodged through the trees to get on our mounts.

"Circle through the trees and split up, then we come at them from both sides!" Namjoon called, and I recognised his tactic. It was surprisingly difficult to pick off galloping, swerving targets even with the best of rifles, and we weren't about to simply run from such cowardly attackers. Especially since—if it was who we thought it was—their beef was with us, not the Wapiti. I felt somewhat guilty for Sahale's injury for that reason. 

The injured man swung himself onto his bareback pony without much trouble and nodded to me in thanks, jaw clenched and brow pinched but otherwise ready for a fight. I jumped onto Luna and drew my rifle, but seeing Sahale draw his bow, I rode up beside him and handed him my pistol. He understood right away and took it with another thankful nod. I knew they didn't use guns if they could avoid it, but he wasn't going to be much use with a bow in his shape. 

Charging hell-for-leather across the open grassy plains towards white cliffs was all a blur of death-defying terror. The sniper didn't fire again, but as we approached the steep incline up which we assumed our attacker was, we were flanked by aggressive mounted bandits galloping and firing pistols towards us. Luna held up well, for her, carrying me bravely wherever I asked. Luckily our attackers weren't excellent shots, so we came out of the short burst of violence mostly unscathed. Namjoon dismounted the moment we felt safe to inspect a bullet wound in Voltaire's hindquarters, and Ahote tied off a self-made bandage around his bicep; I assumed another bullet wound. 

Despite the desire to help them, I kept my wits about me in case that wasn’t the end of our fight, rifle clutched by my side. I patted Luna's neck as she panted, and I looked over at Taehyung and Frost. The little grey and white mare hopped from foot to foot and swished her tail, head raised high and ears tilted backwards. She looked like she would attack the first thing that came within reach of her teeth. She often resembled something that had just clawed its way out of hell, but this time she was feeding off of Taehyung's massively negative energy as well as her innate evil. I was surprised she hadn't thrown him. Alas, he sat confidently astride her as though she was as calm as Luna. 

Most of us cantered around the cliffs that made up Twin Stack Pass looking for more of them, making sure that was the last of them. Namjoon and Ahote stayed with the ones we'd shot down to inspect—and quietly loot—their bodies. 

Tsiishch'ili broke the tense silence pointing up the cliff with a surprised _'_ _oh!_ _'_ "There, barrels and the top of a wagon."

Indeed, there were signs of a small camp at the top of the cliffs, so we kept our distance and scoped out what else we could see. If there were any left alive, we were in firing range, so we kept moving with our weapons drawn. 

There had still been no more firing when Namjoon and Ahote cantered towards us. With them, I realised with surprise, were a few extra riders: Jimin on his borrowed mare, and Jungkook and Hoseok flanking him. That was a much-needed relief in a stressful time like this, but not seeing Yoongi put me on edge again. Before I had a chance to ask, Namjoon was barking movement orders and having us spread out and scout the place more thoroughly. He and Ahote bravely ventured up the cliffside, hasty but quiet. 

Galloping Luna towards the cliff on the other side of the pass, I noticed movement and aimed my rifle to look down my scope. Whatever had moved hid itself before I could see what it was, so I ventured further, slowing to a trot. A careful search around the chalk stone cliffside revealed nothing but suspicious stillness and quiet. I knew something was out of the ordinary by Luna's pricked ears and tense gait, so I kept my guard up. Sahale rounded my side of the cliff to help me search, but after a while we gathered by one side of the pass to wait for Namjoon and Ahote. 

And then suddenly there was a rifle shot and a shrill scream. Our spooked horses almost collided with one another, attempting to escape the frightening sounds, and Luna finally threw a stressed kick with both hind legs, almost tipping me out of the sadde. I didn’t have time to attempt to soothe her; the chaos was never ending it seemed. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry to cut you off mid-action! The next Yoongi chapter will clear things up hehe

See you next time!


	22. France

Little mustang go zoomzoom! I have feelings about this chapter and I hope you do too :3

~~~~~~~~~~

_Chapter glossary:_

**French/France:** colloquial way to refer to something considered European, such as a way of dressing, speaking, or a taboo act.

_Yoongi’s POV_

  
  


It wasn't quite morning when I was woken by a panicked sound beside me. Blinking as I tried to look around, I noticed Hoseok burying under the covers, movements sluggish and breaths uneven. My concern wasn't enough to outweigh my hesitance to touch him, so I waited. It occurred to me as he tossed around and whimpered that he was dreaming, and it didn't sound like a pleasant dream. He eventually struggled out of the covers and began to tremble. I almost reached over to shake him awake after his sleeping face scrunched up with discomfort, but a moment later his eyes opened just slightly, and his body relaxed against the mattress. 

It only took him a few seconds to feel my gaze on him, and he met my eyes and sighed. With his breathing finally slowing, he searched for the blankets to pull them back over himself, watching his hands as he did so. 

"Sorry I woke you," he said sheepishly, his voice barely higher than a whisper. 

"It's okay." 

He looked too awake to sleep again soon, and despite feeling comfortably heavy, I wasn't sure I'd be able to sleep again either. It reminded me of a tough time Jungkook went through the first time he'd shot a man dead, and he woke up crying every night for weeks. I bit my lip, thinking Hoseok could be struggling with the event from earlier that day, and it made my gut churn with guilt. 

"Was it… a nightmare?" I asked carefully, and his eyes found mine again, but only for a second, his expression unreadable in the dim moonlight.

"I guess," he breathed, settling back in under the covers. 

My brow pinched as I ached at the thought of him losing sleep because of me. "I'm… I'm really sorry, Hoseok, I-"

He cut me off with a nonchalant _'_ _pshaw'_. "Don't worry yerself. I just gotta toughen up some."

He didn't seem to expect my frown in response to that, but I couldn't help feeling frustrated. I realised then why it bothered me so much. Like all those weeks ago when he showed me the soft skin of his hands, and later how they'd begun to toughen up, it felt oddly sad. His innocence towards my reckless killing was the same. I didn't want him to have to toughen up. Would he lose some of his cheerfulness? Some of the brightness from his smile? It was agonising to even imagine. But all of that was too hard to say. Seeming awkwardly uncomfortable, Hoseok rolled onto his side away from me to go back to sleep.

Instead of saying anything, I did what always worked with Jungkook and scooted close to wrap an arm around him. His skin was chilled even through warm layers. His body tensed up for a second, but he eventually relaxed, and I felt him lean against me just the tiniest bit. I was too sleepy to feel it for long, but I was going to be haunted by the warm, fluttering in my chest for weeks. I fell back to sleep before I could tell if he relaxed enough to do the same. 

Before the sun had reached the top of the trees over the eastern forest, we finished tending to Seamus's animals and were hastily on our way west. Citali was getting along well with Denali by now, not that Jimin and Jungkook gave them much choice. Jimin looked taller when they rode side by side, which was an interesting sight. He seemed comfortable on her back at least, and she was every bit as calm for him as she had been for me. I almost wished I could be riding her instead of bouncing around on this hardwood cart seat. 

Hoseok was quiet. He hadn't eaten that morning as far as I knew: he was out of bed by the time I woke and poking at the fire he'd lit. We didn't speak but for pleasantries, but he was the same as always with the younger ones. I suffered through an hour of Jungkook and Jimin's unnecessary chatter before I had an idea.

Hoseok was riding between the wagon and the lovebirds, so I turned to glance at him and caught his gaze. He'd been staring off into space, and his brows quirked just slightly at meeting my eyes. I beckoned, and he cantered Mateo around the cart to ride beside me. 

Looking in his eyes was a slippery slope after the dreamlike events of the night before. I buried those thoughts and lifted my Carcano from around my shoulder to toss it to him. He dropped the reins and made a shocked grimace as he scrambled to catch it with both hands. I felt a smile tug at my lips.

"Er, what's this for?" he asked, staring at it before looking up at me again. I kept my eyes either ahead of me, on Lady, or on the rifle. 

"To teach you how to use it."

Hoseok moved his hands around until he was at least attempting a proper grip. The way he kept it apart from his body seemed in line with his hesitancy towards killing; he was at least a little afraid of it. 

"Don't worry, it's not loaded," I assured him. "Couch the butt against your shoulder and have a look down the scope." 

I tried not to look at his concentration face as he adjusted his body to raise my rifle to sit properly. "Like this?" 

"Kinda of. Tilt your barrel hand out a bit more, and raise it higher on your shoulder." He did. "Higher." And again. "And move your trigger hand so you can actually reach the trigger."

Hoseok hesitated, and I saw his hand tremble as he slid it up just a little, head tilting away from the scope to watch what he was doing. I found myself distracted by his expression, or maybe it was the way his hair swept across his eyes in the breeze, or the angle of his sharp jaw…

"Like this?"

I blinked rapidly and focused again. "Right. Now memorize that, and the first thing you have to do is practice raising it into that exact position until you can do it without thinking."

Hoseok nodded and lowered my rifle to his side. I didn't watch him as he practiced bringing it to his face to aim over and over. I steered Lady around a deep groove in the road and tried to think about anything other than Hoseok. 

"Err…" I heard, and I looked over at Hoseok as he lowered the rifle, staring where the scope had been pointing. "That's the sheriff of Valentine."

I looked towards the road ahead, panicked as I noticed the small party of lawmen in the distance. I considered steering off the road to avoid them. Luckily they were too far away to recognise us yet if we did have some kind of target on us, so we had a moment to decide on a course of action.

"You three make yourselves scarce," I barked, ensuring the two behind heard, and they galloped the horses off the road into the shrubs and far enough away to disappear behind white cliffs. Alone, and I noticed without my rifle, I would look quite inconspicuous. Worst case scenario, I was recognised and possibly taken in. At least the others would be safe. 

As it turned out, the quickly trotting party of three barely spared me a glance and a friendly nod as they passed. I finally breathed again with them behind me, disappearing over the hill. I made sure to continue on the road so that eventually the others would find me again, but it was strangely daunting being alone on the road like this. I had become much too dependent on my posse.

Twin Stack Pass was in my sights by noon, and I still hadn't been met by my three younger companions. The white cliffs outside of Valentine were a stark contrast to the green grass and blue skies, almost unnatural. There was always tension in times like these when we planned to reunite and had no way of knowing whether or not we'd find each other. Apart from creaking wheels, trotting hoofbeats, and the distant cries of a hawk, there was no sound around me. I followed the road to the cliffs, scanning for any sign of my companions. Every skittering creature that dashed between shrubs or hoofed beast that bounded away from the road made Lady and me glance over in synchronisation. 

I stopped the wagon before the daunting pass, hesitant to drive through alone, feeling like a sitting duck out here without my backup. A shuffling and a loud grunt caught my attention from the cliff to my left, and Lady spooked, head tossing as I gathered her reins roughly. There was a gunshot, and I tossed myself off the wagon and scrambled behind it, revolver clenched in my hand until a sharp pain tore across my arm. I dropped the iron to the ground and clutched my wrist. The middle of my forearm had been grazed by a bullet, and was now dripping dark red.

Hissing, I picked the gun up with my left arm and shuffled towards the back of the wagon, thankful that Hoseok's brave mare didn'ttake off. Daring to look around to the cliff again, I watched as a body was pushed from the edge, and the offender raised, drew, and fired a bow with such practised ease that even from down here with the sun obscuring his shape, he was clearly Wapiti. A cry from the other cliff made me look over as another two men, presumably also ready to fire at me, took arrows to their chests. I took the chance to climb into the back of the wagon and lie in its relative safety for a few seconds while I got a grip of the pain in my arm. 

A thundering of hooves grew louder from the road ahead, and I prepared for more of a fight. 

"Yoongi!" Came a voice I didn't expect, and I sat up to see my posse all together, stopping suddenly on their riled horses in front of the wagon. Namjoon called out again, frantic. "Let's go!"

I didn't hesitate. Flinging myself over the front of the wagon, I just managed to find the seat and grab the reins as Hoseok whistled for Lady. We were off through the pass and down the road at a gallop. Momentarily alarmed at being approached by horsemen on either side, I was relieved to see they were Wapiti as well, sitting effortlessly astride lightly-tacked coloured ponies with bows and tomahawks at the ready. We moved as a unit, mostly following the road south and finally into the Heartlands where the forest could hide us. 

There was chatter and shuffling around as I drove Lady into a clearing and stepped down from the wagon onto pine needles and damp earth. Seokjin, a sight for sore eyes even in his stressful bustling state, rushed over to take a hold of my bicep and tsk at my damp, darkened sleeve. 

"Just a graze," I mumbled, though it stung intensely. 

"Let me wash and wrap it before you bleed out."

I leant against the back of the wagon and shivered against the cold on my bare skin where Seokjin had peeled my upper layers off me. Despite the freezing wind making me tremble and the fussing over my wound that dragged pained grunts from my throat, I was relieved beyond words to be reunited again. Everyone relaxed a little, refreshed themselves on salted meats and cool water, groomed their horses, and discussed things I didn't bother listening in to yet. Seokjin mumbled about how bad I smelt, asking the last time I bathed. I ignored him. I smelt like one particular smell I wasn't used to, and it made my throat thick with untimely memories.

Namjoon came to my side and lifted himself to sit on the wagon, legs hanging over the end. "So the law weren't any trouble at the farm?" He asked. 

"No trouble. Might have been if we hadn't scattered." 

He nodded slowly, quiet for a while. Seokjin finished cleaning and quickly tied a tight bandage. The bleeding hadn't stopped, but it would soon with such careful, practiced treatment. 

"Hoseok looks better."

I gulped. I couldn't stop myself finding him with my eyes, and it surprised me to see him standing against a tree instead of sitting. Even more surprising was that despite the three young native men, including Ahote, lingering nearby, he wasn't in arms-reach of any of them. Slowly finishing a plain bread roll, he listened while Taehyung relayed a story of some description, and I almost lost myself watching his deeply-engaged expression, his cheeks full of food. 

I came back to myself to see Namjoon and Seokjin giving each other secretly-amused looks and forcefully ignored it. "Sure is," I finally answered, a touch embarrassed. 

"All done," Seokjin said, much too energetic and positive. "Now _don't use it_ , or I'll have to cut it off."

I hummed an unamused, sarcastic agreement, shrugging back into my clothes.

"Really, though. You need to bathe. Keep it clean or my work will be for nothing."

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled just as all of the horses suddenly looked up from the grass towards the forest to the east. Tension radiated from us as we watched the approach of a rider. Hoseok moved first, and I cringed at his slight limp as he ran to meet the woman before she reached the temporary camp. Taehyung mumbled something to Jimin then, and I just happened to catch what he said from the shape of his lips. I recognised her as he said it: she was Hoseok's Mexican friend, the one we'd met when we were on the trail of Clementine Fitzgibbons. It shouldn't have surprised me to see her riding straddled, but it was uncommon for women. She was dressed like us as well, unlike the feminine outfits I'd seen her in before. 

They walked together into the gathering, Lucrecia riding a sturdy grulla mustang and Hoseok's hand resting casually on her thigh. Namjoon stood quickly from the wagon, brow furrowed deeply, looking almost angry as he went to approach them. Hoseok, on the other hand, looked anxious. 

Her accented voice broke the silence. "Now this is what I like to see; not a white man in sight." Jungkook, Taehyung, and Ahote snorted. "Lucrecia, since we never really met last time," she said in introduction as she slid out of the saddle and held a hand out to Namjoon. He offered his name back, shaking her hand politely. He looked mighty skeptical, but his frown wasn't so deep while they made eye contact. 

"What brings such an odd mix together in the woods like this?" She asked curiously, and I noticed Hoseok watching the exchange nervously. I felt nervous as well, about how Namjoon was so skeptical, and about whatever it was Hoseok clearly wanted to keep hidden. I also knew he hadn't forgotten that Lucrecia was the name Taehyung gave all that time ago when we encountered her at Clementine's camp. He never forgot details like that.

"Just keeping our noses clean," Namjoon replied. "What can we do for you?" 

"I've been looking for my middle-man," she said bumping Hoseok's shoulder beside her with a closed first. "Didn't know someone roughed him up, though."

Hoseok blanched, eyes closing gently as a hopeless expression took over his face. 

"Middle-man, huh?" Namjoon said, keeping mostly objective, at least on the outside. Luckily, he didn't enquire any further, but I knew he'd had some lingering suspicions confirmed by that comment. "Well he's all better now; you're welcome to him."

Hoseok wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. I felt a confusing tug in two directions as Hoseok and Lucrecia packed his things into her saddlebags and made to leave. He stashed my rifle back on Mateo's saddle and stroked my stallion's muzzle. Finally reunited with my makeshift family, I wanted to stay and relax for a while. My gut told me to stick by Namjoon and my brother and the comfort of familiar faces. Hoseok told Namjoon he'd be back for Lady another time, and pulled himself up onto the mustang's rump to ride away with his friend. I reacted too quickly for my gut-feeling to stop me, and Jungkook shouted after me as I galloped Mateo off in the direction my helpless heart took me.

  
  


The several minutes it took me to follow allowed the deceivingly fast mustang such a good head start that I had trouble following, but Mateo knew the 'follow that rider' game, and his keen senses pointed us in the right direction. I recognised as I passed through Monto's Rest that they were likely stopping in Strawberry, and as the town came into view, I saw the pair on Lucrecia's small silvery horse. The settlement was bustling with evening deliveries in the dimming golden twilight, folk leaving and arriving, last minute shopping and such, and Hoseok did a double take as I rode up beside them at the hotel. 

"Yoongi," he said, surprised, brows knitted for a second before he slid off the mustang's rump. "What… what're you doing here?" 

"I-" I began, but I had no idea how to finish. I hesitated, scratching my head, and the sight of the building in front of us gave me a helpful scapegoat. "Seokjin told me to take a bath." It was a better explanation than I expected to come up with. It was true, for one. As true as the real reason I bolted after him without a second thought. Thankfully, nobody asked why I hadn't chosen Valentine instead, which was much closer.

Mateo and the mustang breathed heavily in the silence from their gallop, and Hoseok just nodded, his expression hardly less concerned than hours ago when I'd last seen it. I realised it must have been obvious I was following him; could have even looked like Namjoon sent me. I didn't want him thinking that, but I couldn't decide which would be worse: his thinking I was suspicious of him, or the persistent, somewhat dizzying attachment I felt to him that I couldn't shake. As we headed inside, saddle bags slung over our shoulders I realised I was quite afraid of him believing either the lie of the truth. The lie because it would seem like I didn't trust him, which I did, and the truth because it made my mouth fill with hot saliva like I was going to be sick. Because, I thought with a heavy ache that never seemed to settle, I was filthy in love with him, and I was terrified he wouldn't care. 

I lingered at the bottom of the stairs while my bath was filled with hot water, Hoseok and his friend passing me to go to their room. I didn't let it bother me that they were sharing a room, or that Hoseok didn't spare me a glance as they went. What bothered me was how much I wanted to be near him, talk to him, look at him, touch him. It was maddening. 

The bath was scalding and soothing, and I almost forgot about the chaos in my heart as I slid into its embrace. I sank down to my chin with a sigh, only my injured arm and my head not submerged, eyes glancing over the typical, uninteresting decor of paintings and flowers in vases. I wished I could see out the window; see something that could distract me. Even with the steam rising around my face and the day's events making me sleepy, the thought of touching myself like he had was tantalising. I busied my hands cleaning grime from my skin, but the wanting never stopped. The warmth of the water only made it worse. Dream-like memories sent sparks through my chest and deep throbs to my groin. Filled with temptation and deeply distracted by it, I jumped in fright when the room door creaked open. 

"Sorry," came a quiet voice, and I peeked over the lip of the tub to lock eyes with Hoseok. Momentarily devastated at having to see him when I was like this, I disguised a shiver and sat up just enough to listen comfortably. "I just… I wanted to talk." 

I nodded, lost for words while he closed the door with a soft click and took a few small steps towards me. Stopping in the middle of the room, he looked as uncomfortable as I felt. I didn't see him like this often, his coat and gunbelt left in another room and his hair stressfully combed back by his fingers. I gulped at the way his trousers hugged his hips and long thighs and the way it made the throbbing intensify. 

"I need to clarify, I guess," he said nervously, punctuating his words with useless gestures, his bad leg resting, no doubt in pain by now. "That I never wanted to take advantage of you and your gang like I did… I should have left… so I'm real sorry if there's bitterness about it."

"There isn't," I said, feeling confusion cross my face. "I told you you weren't ringing in, remember?"

He nodded, but it wasn't a believing nod. "I know." 

I looked straight ahead at the opposite wall, needing to see something other than him to get my thoughts in order. "Look," I began, feeling brave and needing to be truthful about something at least. "Namjoon is cautious of you; I can tell. Because you're friends with dangerous people. But Hoseok, I-…" Hesitation made me pause for just a second. "I trust you."

I noticed when I looked to my left again to check his reaction that it hadn't quite hit him right, and he seemed not just uncomfortable and doubtful but confused as well. Desperate to alleviate some of his tension, I looked down at my bandaged arm and forced out an uncharacteristically bashful "help me?" 

He moved at once as though coiled like a spring, just waiting for something to do. The cloth on my arm was stained almost entirely, close to being bled through before it had stopped. Hoseok sat on the edge of the tub, eyes modestly glued to my bandage. I watched silently as the wound was unwrapped, but I stopped him before he finished. 

"It's… not pretty," I warned. I wasn't sure if he'd seen a bullet graze before, but it was gorier than a deep tissue wound like the one Jimin healed from recently. Cavitation parted the shredded skin and muscle, and although small, the jelly-like torn flesh was alarmingly confronting if you hadn't seen it before. 

"Thanks," he said with a wry smile, but he continued. Despite everything—the tension between us and my own visible sexual frustration—I laughed as he laid eyes on the wound and turned away to cover his mouth and take a few moments to compose himself.

"Wow," he said, a sickened squint on his face as he moved to grab the basin of warm water beside the bath that was used for washing hair. "That's something else."

"I warned you."

"You did."

He washed me so gently, starting with the blood-crusted wound that wasn't so deep that it bled again, and then moving to the rest of me. I hadn't meant _can you scrub my whole body for me_ , but I wouldn't have stopped him for an earthquake. 

And even with his hands on me tenderly, even with the air between us thick with questions and words unspoken, it seemed somewhat comfortable again. Capable of conversation, capable of looking in each others' eyes. As free of awkwardness as we ever were, which was never completely. 

It came from him softly when he finally broke the silence; no conviction, just genuine curiosity. “Why did you follow?” 

I felt tension begin to crawl across my skin, bunching my shoulders and making my brows pinch, and I dug deep for another surge of honest bravery. It wasn’t like he couldn’t see how he made me feel through the soap-frothed, hot water. The cloth he used to clean my skin stilled while he watched my face expectantly. All I could hear was the crackling fire beside us and the thudding of my pulse in my ears.

He knew now that it wasn't to spy on him, wasn't to keep tabs or confirm suspicions. I wasn't brave enough to speak, so instead I reached into the water to pull the cloth from his hand and nudged his touch towards where I wanted it. His brows hitched for a second, surprise just reaching his slightly lidded eyes, and his lips parted as he ghosted his fingers over my erection. I shivered.

"Came back for more?" He asked, lips curving in one corner in a mild cheeky grin. "But you have to wait."

I could wait. I'd waited so long already, so I kept waiting. I waited while he washed my hair and rebandaged my arm. I waited in a robe while the girl from downstairs came to empty and refill the bath for Hoseok. I waited while he undressed in front of me, strangely shy, and climbed in to wash himself as well. I could have kept waiting, but instead I went to return the favour, get my hands on him like I'd been wanting.

His leg wound looked good, still raw, bruised, and preparing to leave a huge scar, but mostly healed. His head wound was bruised now and looked painful. My left hand trembled just a little as I dragged uncoordinated strokes of the cloth across his shoulders, up and down his arms and legs. He watched me, a familiar mix of curious and undoubtedly amused with just a dash of lust. His skin was so smooth, body almost totally unmarked, and I got distracted every time I cleaned a new patch and found it flawless. Naturally a glowing milky-caramel shade, his bare, clean body was too addictive to look away from. He felt too calm as I dragged deliberate strokes down deeper into the water, not missing an inch of his skin until the cloth just touched the hair below his navel. Unlike me, he'd been touched like this before. Before yesterday, at least. 

Too confronted to try anything, I moved to wash his hair, and he scrubbed at any of himself I'd missed. He hummed contentedly from my fingers on his scalp, and it made me tense with impatience. I could wait—I _would_ wait—but he was making it more and more difficult by the minute. 

He hauled his lithe, dripping figure from the bath and into the robe I passed him and covered himself with a slight shiver. He still rested his bad leg, but it was relieving to see him moving around unaided. As amazing as it felt having him wrapped around me all the time, I didn't think I could have kept it up for much longer. Restraint around him was already difficult.

Hoseok’s hands dropped from the tie on his robe as he looked at me, just gauging something for a second before he twisted to step towards me. I blazed before he even touched me, excited sparks shooting from my fingers to my toes. There was nothing like this kind of wanting; the kind that started weeks or months ago as a confusing thought, and then built and built until it made you sick and thrilled and desperate all at once. It made my next exhale tremble.

He touched me then, right where I wanted it, but the feeling was dampened by the soft material between us. Deliberate pressure made my blood rush south so quickly I felt lightheaded. My mouth watered at the sight of him, wet black hair curling into his eyes; smooth, shining skin still gorgeously dark without the smears of dirt I was used to. 

"Patient," he said just above a whisper, an observation if anything. I didn't feel patient. I almost doubled-over from his harder squeeze, his lips turned up at my sharp gasp and fluttering eyelids. "What do you want me to do to you?"

I wished there was something to grab, lean against, collapse onto, because I felt so weak when he touched me. I wanted more; so much more. 

His eyes slid down when I reached to tug at my robe's tie and let it fall open. I kept my gaze on his face, flustered but turned-on by the way he looked at my body. The tips of his fingers pressed below my solar plexus, asking me backwards until my shoulder-blades hit polished timber.

"Do you want… my hand?" He asked, attempting either to make my options easy, or get me even more riled with his sultry voice. "My mouth?" 

I couldn't help but stare at his lips then, and it seemed to answer the question for him. He drifted closer, stiflingly tall and warm and _real_ , and his tongue poked out to wet his lips before he spoke.

“Ever been to France?” 

I would have questioned him then, but he slowly lowered himself to his knees, pulling my gaze to his. I’d heard the term a few times in my late childhood, and it made more sense in overheard hushed whispers from harlots when I was old enough to understand. Sex acts renowned in Europe that were taboo here, so much so that not even the gossiping prostitutes themselves would perform them. I just about short circuited with his chin at my navel and his hands sliding up my thighs. 

His expression dripped with lust and mischief when he grinned and spoke again. “I'll take you there.” He sank down to sit on his legs, face level with my hips, and then…

And then his mouth was on me; not in any way I’d ever imagined, not anywhere I had craved in all the time I’d spent wanting him. As his lips softly closed on the head of my cock and his tongue flattened against my tip, my stomach flipped and my hands grasped at the wall behind me. I watched in startled amazement as he took in more of me with a low hum, fingers holding gently at my base. My head tossed back from the overwhelming feeling, but I couldn’t help watching him again a second later. 

He wasted no time taking it from slow and gentle to the opposite, dragging tight, wet suction up and down, making me gasp for air and clutch at his damp hair. I couldn’t stop my voice from leaking into my breaths from hearing his. As though he enjoyed it as much as I did, his deep moans vibrated around me, growing gradually more excited and breathless in time with mine. 

My legs felt like jelly when he pulled his mouth off me and looked up to my eyes, spit shining on his lips and down his chin. He panted open-mouthed, dazed and flushed red, probably a reflection of how I looked. He twisted his hand up and down my slick length while he rested his jaw, and his gaze slid down to watch. I let his hair go then, realising my hand was clenched hard and I didn't want to hurt him. My fingers slid down his neck to his shoulder to steady myself instead, the robe falling back and opening just enough to see down to his navel. I fixated on his lips, not an inch from my tip, while he sighed hotly against it. Somehow, seeing him so riled, so wanting, made my muscles suddenly coil so tightly that I thought it was about to be over already. 

Seeming to notice, he stopped his hand and let me go, flicking his eyes back up to mine. I tried to control my expression, sure I looked pathetically hot and bothered. I didn't want this to end yet, but as I noticed his spit-slick hand reach between his own thighs, I was racked with another strong surge of pleasure, and I had to dig so deep to keep myself from coming. Seeing him touch himself—as much as I could with all of the action hidden under his robe—was beginning to be my favourite thing in the world. Still, as much as I wanted to watch him fully, I wasn't brave enough to figure out if he'd let me, let alone try to do it for him. God knows I'd had countless dreams about touching him like that. 

Now that my breaths had calmed a little, Hoseok dipped his head to take me in his mouth again, one hand still holding the top of my thigh and the other jerking himself rather roughly. I moaned at the swish of his tongue over my tip, and he let the hot muscle linger there for a while, soft teasing movements alternating with digging hard into my slit, making my hips buck and my breath catch. My hand slid across to his nape and back into his hair, and I focused on tangling my fingers gently there so that I didn't try to control the movements of his head. It took some self control not to test just how much of me he could take at once. I shuddered at the thought. 

The build-up was fast after that, especially while I watched his shoulders bunching and breaths shaking from what he was doing to himself. He glanced up at me a few times, always finding my eyes and sending shivers up my spine. He definitely enjoyed this as much as I did. 

Too soon, after he moved his hand from my thigh to my base to rub what he couldn't fit in his mouth, I felt the coiling turn to sharp throbs that blurred together until I hit my peak. He didn't react right away—may not have noticed as I held in the sounds I wanted to make—so my first shot took him off guard. He pulled back suddenly and sat up a little, watching, more calmly stroking himself while I clutched at his hair and painted white from his chin to his belly. He steadied me with a hand on my hip after noticing how weak it made me. The only noise I couldn't contain through all of it was a breathy moan at the sight of him drooling some of my mess down his chin while he looked me in the eyes.

I leant hard against the wall for support, puffing to get my breath back, but while he was still knelt at my feet and stroking, I wasn't going to calm down for a while yet. His small pleasured hiccups turned to quiet whines as his grip on my hip bone tightened, and his forehead pressed just below my ribs, sweaty and warm. I moved my fingers across his scalp, tempted to tip his head back so I could watch his expression while he came, but not quite bold enough. He leant into the touch just noticeably before the shudders started, and the sounds he breathed against my skin were out of this world. 

We breathed in time for a while, his messy lips absently brushing my skin and making my heart flip. I could hear the fire, a small commotion downstairs, and distant whinnying from outside, but the deep, exhausted panting that washed over my skin filled my ears, filled my mind with him. As the blissful high slowly subsided, a different wanting built up, the familiar desire to touch him softly, kiss his lips, his neck, anywhere. I didn't want to let him move away or take my hand out of his hair, feeling a dizzying amount of affection in that moment. But he felt none of it that I could tell; simply struggled to his feet and steadied himself with a hand on my arm before limping back to the bathtub to clean up. Swallowing my shameful romantic feelings, I hobbled over to do the same, wondering if I needed to stop all of this before it started to hurt.

  
  


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Eheheh lord help me and my Hogi heart


	23. Wanted

Woooo I'm back with some Yoongi for y'all! How have we all been? It's freezing here in southern Australia >8D love it.

Wrote this quite a while ago, and the next few chapters have some organising to do before I can upload, but i have some gifs ready and waiting now! (I'm sure none of you noticed that I just write what's in my head haphazardly and never organise anything.) Some Jikook soon ofc and then JINTAE which I'm so excited to share, but plz enjoy Yoongi and soon Hogi in the meantime e u e

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_Chapter Glossary:_

**Mashed:** in love.

_Yoongi’s POV_

  
  
  
  


Dressed in very warm, soft, clean undergarments and freshly-washed clothes, I trotted Mateo out of Strawberry but stopped by the butcher. Lucrecia was just pocketing some cash after no doubt selling some goods, and she turned towards me just in time to almost walk right into Mateo. 

"Oh, sorry- oh! Señor Yoongi. _¿Qué onda?_ "

I looked down at her, tugging the reins to bring my stallion to a stop. "I'm heading home. I… only needed a bath."

"Did you tell Hoseok?"

I blinked, confronted and confused. "Tell him what?"

"That you're leaving, _idiota_ ," she chuckled.

"Oh… no. I- could you?"

She eyed me, hands on her hips and a hint of a smile tugging at her lips, before nodding and looking down at the mud clinging to her tasselled boots. " _Si_. Have a safe journey home."

I nodded, trying to muster a genuine smile. 

The gallop back to camp was spent agonising over everything I'd done—everything I'd let happen—in the past two days. Mateo's short, rapid strides, confident footfalls on not-so-safe terrain at times, gave me something to snap me out of my emotional spiral every time it built up and threatened to choke me. I wondered if I should have been excited or thrilled, but all I felt was nausea. Crippling, stifling nausea that was emphasised with every memory of his touch and his dark, hungry gaze on me. I started to tell myself that _that_ was all he wanted, and by the time my party was curiously staring at me, I had convinced myself to never let that happen again. 

"You know," Namjoon began, putting down the knife he was sharpening before he strode towards me, shoulders back and arms folding pointedly over his chest. "You can do whatever you like as far as I'm concerned, but I'd appreciate it if you took a moment to think about the company you keep."

I dismounted, boots thumping on the dirt, and the muddled anxiety of earlier was forgotten amidst my frustration at his judgement. 

"Thanks for the advice," I said with my eyes in his for a second, and I led Mateo to the tree where the other horses were tied. I felt his gaze on me as he turned to follow me. 

"Is that all? No defence? You know I don’t trust him, Yoongi, and you can fuck around with him all you like, but don't-" 

I spun away from Mateo to face him then and marched angrily to jab a finger at him, other hand bunched into a fist to stop myself hitting him. "I thought I could do _whatever I like_." 

His glare darkened, and he didn’t flinch or move away but held his ground. "They're a _gang_. We don't mix with his type."

" _We're_ a gang! You make and sell illegal liquor!"

"That ain't murder, Yoongi! I ain't kill people who ain't need killing."

I took a breath and let it out in an angry but darkly amused huff. "Whatever you think of Hoseok, he doesn't kill people. Can't even look at a goddamn corpse! I'm done talking about this."

I noticed vaguely that it was just the six of us now as I stormed through the temporary camp to sit by myself on a log by a cliff's edge. The clearing we rested by was called Horseshoe Overlook—I remembered it from fishing and hunting trips with my family. Jungkook and I had raced our ponies through these woods. Instead of stewing in anger at Namjoon or wallowing in misery about Hoseok, I reminisced. Comfortable memories of my youth were difficult to recall these days. I didn't often feel nostalgic, or miss my parents, but when it felt like my friends were against me and my brother was deeply distracted by his budding relationship, it didn't take much to feel utterly alone. I pulled out my pistol to busy my hands, disassembling it and cleaning each part using muscle memory alone. 

A short while passed in silence, and I didn’t feel any better. Boots rustling in the grass alerted me to Taehyung's approach before his voice. "Can I sit?"

My brow quirked slightly as I looked over my shoulder at him, and I shrugged as I looked back at my pistol. 

"Can't see why not."

He perched beside me, elbows on his knees and hands clasped together. He was wearing a hooded tunic we were traded from the Wapiti, vertically striped with blush pink and rich purple. It was too long for his arms and covered his hands. When he didn't talk right away I relaxed and got back to my cleaning. It wasn't usual for Taehyung to be quiet. 

My wound was really feeling the strain of using my arm by the time I finished reassembling my gun, and I holstered it with a slight groan. I'd bled through the bandage again, but I wasn't quite ready to head back into company yet. The company beside me was confusing enough. As long as the rest of them didn't want to come watch the sunset with me, I didn't mind. 

Finally he spoke. "You know…" he began, and he brushed at his face, making me look at him. His eyes were red and damp, but he looked mostly calm. "-my feelings for Jin… right?"

I nodded, wondering where he was going with this while he cleared his throat and shuffled his seat on the log. 

"I told him. While I was drunk and feeling weak I confessed and… he didn't respond." 

I looked at the ground then, uncomfortable watching pain creep into his features. That exact kind of pain hit a little too close to home. 

"And I keep catching him just staring at me, and I just… I wanna know what he's thinking, you know? God I just wanna sleep until this is all over." He dropped his head into his hands. 

"I know." 

Luckily he was in control—had probably cried enough about it by this point—and when he sat up again he was looking at me. "How did all of y'all figure it out and he didn't? I could tell when I said it that it was the first time he'd ever even considered the concept. And I've… I've been sweet on him for as long as I've known him." 

I sighed, trying to keep calm while his emotional venting resonated so deeply with me that I had to fight to keep the dread off my face. "I know, Tae."

After a few long, deep breaths to stay relaxed, he asked very carefully: "You're in love with Hoseok, aren't you?"

I didn’t respond right away. Usually I'd have deflected that in the blink of an eye. But he was being so honest right then, and clearly in a lot of pain. 

"Yeah."

"Then… why don't you stay with him?"

I thought for a while, in some ways not even sure myself. "It's not mutual."

"He told you that?"

I gulped, wanting to stop before I started to say things I hadn't even let myself think yet. "Not in so many words."

"You haven't told him?"

After a long pause, a long exhale, my eyes on the pine needles by the edge of the cliff, I shook my head. "I don't know how."

"Well take it from me, getting drunk works a treat."

I smiled just slightly, and despite everything, I felt a little better. 

It was quiet around the campfire that night. It had been a while since we'd all been together and out in the open like this. There wasn't any tension before, which made it noticeably different, but at least everyone decided to be civil for now. I slept for a few hours and then woke to relieve Jimin of sentry duty, and I spent the wee hours formulating a way to be as brave as Taehyung had; to say something. Mateo eyed my curiously, munching on some dry winter grass around his bit, while I quietly rehearsed imaginary conversations, pretending he was Hoseok. 

Snow began to fall lightly just before dawn. Huddling deeper into my coat, I didn’t notice the approach from behind me until it was too late not to startle. 

I recognised Jungkook's amused snigger.

"Lucky I didn't shoot you," I grumbled. 

"Fine morning, dear brother," he teased. He crouched beside me and huddled closer than I would have let the others, hoping to share some warmth. 

"What are you up so early for?" I asked, glancing at how long his hair had gotten while it flopped over his eyes.

"Just woke up and wanted to check on you."

"Is that so?" I didn’t show it, but his concern was touching. Especially while it felt like all he thought about was Jimin these days.

"Mmm. Never seen you have a go at Joon like that before." 

I scoffed. "He started it." 

"I know, but you usually just ignore him."

He was right. I usually just ignored everything. But this was not usual. This defensiveness. This anxiety. Nothing felt usual. 

When I didn't answer, he continued. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know you can talk to me… if you want."

"Thanks, Kook."

"Although Mateo seems to make a pretty good Hoseok."

I cringed. How wonderful that everyone seemed to know how I felt. 

He patted my shoulder as he stood to shuffled back towards the fire. "Good luck, brother."

I figured I would likely need it. 

As it turned out, I didn’t see Hoseok again for a little while. Whatever he was off doing, he clearly had no desire to come find us again, and as we found a deserted corner of the state of West Elizabeth to settle in, each day became a little easier to bear without him. Mostly because we kept ourselves exceptionally busy. Winter was rough, and all through November to the middle of December we worked every day to make good money. As if we weren't already better off than any year before, we saved every penny and only purchased the essentials. I didn't know what Namjoon had us saving so hard for—maybe it was just because we could—but I welcomed the distraction with open arms. Nothing like travelling the countryside with two old friends to shoot up dens of bandits and get paid for it. 

I slept well most nights, even when I had to pretend I couldn't hear Jimin and Jungkook shuffling and panting in their tent. They shared one now, and none of us questioned it. It was a win for me, at least. I made myself a larger dwelling, bought a cot to sleep on, and brought in a table. It felt more like a home now. I could close the canvas doors at night and have my own private space. It felt a little like luxury. 

Infrequent trips to Strawberry eventually got us into trouble when for some reason a fight broke out between a pair of locals and Taehyung, and he saw himself smacked in jail overnight with a fine and a criminal offence to his name. Now he would be on the sheriff of every town's radar for crime, which was _just_ what we needed. He insisted that he didn't start anything, which we believed, but there was no avoiding racism in small settler villages like Strawberry. We decided that Jimin or I would pick up bounty posters ourselves for a while.

It didn’t snow for a few days after early December’s blizzards, and I ventured into Strawberry with Jimin on a frigid but clear morning to pick up a bounty. The deputies no longer greeted us at the entrance to town, so I pointedly ignored a self-righteous glare from the officer outside the station and dismounted Mateo to take a look at the bounty board. There were two posters today, and one had been ripped in half to the point where it was unreadable. The other… was Clementine Fitzgibbons. 

Jimin’s boots thumped on the dirt beside me, and he sighed as he dropped Citali’s reins with a metallic jingle. “Fitzgibbons again? We’ve cleaned this place out, buddy.”

“Shall we try Blackwater?” I proposed, wondering how lifelike the ‘WANTED’ sketch was. She looked like a hardened criminal, light hair wild and skin mottled, eyes dark and empty. A different drawing to the one I’d seen months ago, but it had the same energy. 

“Still don’t think we can bring her in, huh?”

I shrugged. 

“Or… don’t wanna run into a certain friend of hers?” The way he said it was low and careful, the same way Taehyung asked his question some months earlier. I looked at him, attempting not to look annoyed, and then turned to my stallion to remount. 

“I don't think we can bring her in. Besides, do you really want to kill a gang of women?”

“I think if they were firin' at me I'd fire back; wouldn't you?”

“Way I see it, if she hasn't been brought in yet, she probably doesn't miss.”

“Why don’t we go check it out anyway? This is a new tip—Deadboot Creek—if we find them maybe Cia will pay us to leave them alone again.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me, settling into Citali’s saddle, and I rolled my eyes. How could I refuse when Hoseok might be there, not to mention I was never-endingly curious about Fitzgibbons. The head honcho of a criminal women-only gang of horse rustlers that couldn't be brought in by the law and targeted rich racists? She didn’t sound all that bad. 

“Well, that’s a two-day ride. We better go get Taehyung.”

Namjoon disagreed with our plan, and Seokjin began to side with him but then quickly changed his mind. We didn’t have much else to do, Jimin argued, so it was only a few moments of heated discussion before Frost was tacked up and we were on our way north. 

My well-worn winter undergarments were a saving grace as we rode further into Ambarino. Jimin’s teeth began to chatter by the time we neared the outpost in which Hoseok and I had sheltered months ago. He seemed in high spirits regardless. It wasn’t long before he explained the lingering smirk on his lips.

“This is where you took Hoseok when he got stabbed, right?”

Taehyung and I both looked at him then, Taehyung with curiosity and me with hesitance and concern. 

“Yeah, why?” The wind whipped hair in my eyes and I reached up to hold onto my hat. 

“We could spend the night in one of these cabins. I hear there’s one with a cozy little fireplace.”

Hoseok and his big mouth. “We’d almost be warmer in the woods,” I countered, remembering how little the broken-down shelter helped in such a blizzard. With the wind as icy as it was, I imagined it would be just as bad.

Taehyung piped up then, and it was almost a shock considering how quiet he’d been. “I vote we stay indoors as well, if these trash heaps could be considered ‘indoors.’”

“Two against one, Mister Min,” Jimin said, steering Citali through the thick settled snow towards the dilapidated settlement. Frost and Mateo were knee-deep and struggled to keep up, but Citali had no trouble navigating it with her long legs. “Which one was it you pair cuddled in for the night?”

Taehyung’s head whipped towards me, eyes wide, the hood of his pink tunic slipping down off his head as he did so. “So _this_ is where it all started?”

“Nothing _started_ ; let’s just sleep in here,” I diverted, dismounting by a larger building and unbuckling my bedroll from the saddle. I dared not look over at the tiny building we'd slept in for fear of growing hot under the collar where those two would see. 

We shuffled about preparing the place for the evening, but the troublemakers couldn’t help but prod at me the entire time. 

“Are you gonna tell us over dinner what exactly happened that night?” Jimin pestered.

“I seared his leg with his blade and then we went to sleep.”

Taehyung scraped two pieces of flint together over some kindling in the fireplace, a small smirk on his lips. “You missed the part where you realised you’re mashed.”

I gulped. I hadn’t realised it then. I was panicked for his safety and drawn to his body-heat, but I hadn’t felt any of the butterflies, any of the heart-pounding that he caused when I thought about him now. It died down noticeably over the past couple of months, but talking about him, especially here in this place, made it flare up. But it didn’t feel awful. Not like it did when he was right there in front of me, unaffected, looking back at me with that nonchalant expression. Thinking about him now ached a little, but it felt warm.

“Or did you know before then?” Jimin added.

“After.” They both looked at me then, suddenly stopping what they were doing. I gulped again, throat thick and dry. “I don't know when exactly, but it was a while after that."

With the fire crackling and our bedrolls laying gathered around it, I sank down to warm up and attempted to ignore the other two as they huddled beside me and stared intently like I was about to tell a child's bedtime story. 

"So what happened after that then?" Jimin asked, voice somewhere between goading and impatient. 

I glared into the flames, feeling finally returning to my fingers and nose. I wasn't surprised at this reaction, or even particularly irritated. It was rare for me to open up at all, but also for some reason I really wanted to. Because I hadn't talked about it; the confusing dreams, the frustrating need to chat with him all the time, the anxiety. I didn't know if it would make me feel any better to talk about it to these two, but they didn't seem to be giving me much of a choice. 

"I dunno. He started to drift away from me. Stopped chatting and joking so much. Was the same with you lot but then… with me he just flipped a switch."

Jimin hummed in thought. "He thinks you can't stand him; probably didn't wanna annoy you."

My gut twisted. "He… what?"

Jimin nodded and readjusted his seat, looking at me with a matter-of-fact expression. "Mmhm, he told me and Kook. I wanted to tell him I didn't think you hated him but we got pulled away and I forgot. But also I didn't know, cos… you are mighty hard to read sometimes." 

Taehyung, watching Jimin as he explained, seemed as confused as I was. "Wait, Hoseok thinks Yoongi hates him? No wonder he hasn't come back since his leg got better."

I hid a grimace at the thought. I had a suspicion that he was put off by my demeanor, and I really tried to change it around him. He was clearly more sensitive to his company than the others. But if he'd said that to Jimin… I felt suddenly nauseated. 

"You don’t think it's because Joon might literally shoot him if he does dare to come back?" Jimin asked, looking at Taehyung beside him, and then at me. "After Cia admitting to all of us that he works for Clementine." 

"We derailed you," Taehyung suddenly said, waving a hand between us. "Please continue."

I didn't want to anymore. Couldn't think about anything but how I'd unintentionally made Hoseok think I couldn't stand him. The only thing I couldn’t stand was having his warm, lean body pressed against me every day as I helped him hobble around, and having to suppress everything I wanted to do and say as I did. Having to attempt to fall asleep with his soft breaths beside me the only thing I could hear, and having to hide the shameful reactions my body had to thoughts and dreams about him. 

"Or we could… talk about something else," Taehyung said after a short while, probably noticing the emotional turmoil on my face. 

"He… got a little drinky on that fine red wine," I began, feeling like it was all about to spill out of me if I started, but unable to stop it. "Said the drugs made him all lickerish." I blushed as I thought about it, realised I was saying it out loud to the two of them, but I went on, feeling sick and breathless thinking about it for the first time in a while. "And he touched me… you know, messing around a little, and he touched himself as well, but that was all it was. And the next day—even right after—it was like nothing happened."

I had no idea what to expect from their reactions except that I was prepared for teasing, but I had been way off on my prediction. They both stared at me in awe, slightly sad, maybe even with pity. I looked down again, uncomfortable looking at them but relieved that they were listening. 

"But it… wasn't the last time. And as much as I wanted it I must be a right fool for letting it happen again when I felt the way that I did…" _The way that I do_ , I thought. Because it hadn't gone away, as much as I thought the busy, frigid winter had dimmed my affection, reminiscing reminded me it hadn’t. 

"Hoseok… probably doesn't see it like you do," Taehyung said slowly, almost as though thinking as he spoke and being careful at the same time. "I don't mean this in a bad way, but… he's a lot more uh… _experienced_ than you are."

"I know," I said, shifting my position, grimacing at the thought of him with others.

"Why do you know so much about this?" Jimin mumbled.

Taehyung whispered, "I'll tell you later," and I pretended not to notice. "Are you gonna tell Hoseok how you feel?" He asked me then. "I mean, because it's affecting you right? You never know what might happen."

"That's what I'm afraid of," I explained, voice just a low breath. 

"But," Jimin countered. "You've been without him all this time and yer okay, right? The worst that could happen is it goes back the way it was. And the best that could happen?" He trailed off, seeming to expect me to perk up at the thought. 

"It just feels wrong, you know, to do it in this order."

Taehyung shook his head. "There ain't no order. You have to talk about it. It doesn't matter when, as long as you do. Just won't get better until you do."

"I don't know if I can talk to him like this. Can't seem to do anything I want to around him."

"What do you mean?" Tae asked, and Jimin glanced at him for a second before looking at me again. 

"Too scared of his reaction?"

I nodded. "Feel like I'd choke on the words if I tried."

Jimin nodded back, understanding and supportive. "You just have to start. That's the hard part. We know you don't have this problem, Tae."

Taehyung shrugged. "I say what I'm thinking." 

I sighed and collapsed back onto my bedroll, all of my usual aches and pains slowly showing themselves. To add to a stiff back, sore knees, twinging shoulder, and blistered feet, my heart was broken. I couldn't see myself finding the courage to say anything when I inevitably saw Hoseok tomorrow. The more I thought about it the more I accepted defeat. Seeing him might hurt after all this time, but maybe, if I pretended everything was okay, I'd eventually believe it. 

The all-women gang had set up camp deep in the woods by the northern border of Ambarino. Taehyung had his doubts that we'd find anything when the ride up Deadboot Creek turned up no leads, but I followed my nose until I spotted enough of a clue. Once the slightest sign of human movement was found, the tracking part was simple. We rode Northwest for only an hour before a close look through the dense pine forest revealed their movements. Not to mention a chorus of whinnys from their mob of wrangled horses. 

This time, I was prepared when we were snuck up on. It wasn't a friendly face, and as I spun to point my revolver, a decorated golden pistol pointed back. I almost stepped back to steady myself, boots deep in the snow.

"Fast draw, cowboy," the dark-skinned girl said with a wicked smirk. Unwaveringly confident, she watched as I slowly raised my weapon and showed her my palms. 

"Not here to fight if we can talk," I offered. We hadn’t really discussed what we would do when we got here, which I realised was a mistake. _All sixes and sevens_ , Taehyung's voice in my head reminded me. I hadn't been thinking all that straight these days. 

Taehyung and Jimin held tight to their guns in their holsters, but they followed my lead and didn't make any threatening movements. 

"What's to talk about? You boys look like bounty hunters to me." 

“Is Lucrecia... here?” I asked, but as the name passed my lips there was a sudden change in her posture—defensive—and her pistol pressed closer to me. I leant back a touch, alarmed. “We’re friends of hers, I promise, you can ask her. My name is Yoongi.” 

~~~~~~~~~~

Hope you liked! The next chapter I have decided will be like a double update > u >

I'm now going to post some random pictures to share with you all a little more of this beutiful world so feel free to ignore XD

**LTR: Tae & Frost, Jimin & Citali, Yoongi & Mateo **

**Citali**

**Namjoon & Voltaire**

**Taehyung & Frost (ft. Jimin & Citali)**

**Yoongi & Hoseok & Lady**

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**Seokjin & De la Luna**

**Ezekiel (Zeek)**

**Hoseok**

**Hoseok & Lady**

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**Just some cute Shire Horse butts (or is it Hoseok, Clementine, and Yoongi?? >u>)**

**Yoongi**

****

**And because I made these about 6 months ago and never showed y'all??**

You can click these to view fullsize cos they pretty

[ ](https://imgur.com/4km4Iq2.png)

And that will do for today hehe See you next time!


	24. Íntimo

OK BEAR WITH ME this will have 2 POVs so don't get confused! I didn't want to re-write too much stuff in 2 POVs so I just... split it.

It kinda works.

MORE SNOWY GIFS horsies do cute trot in snow UwU

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_Jimin’s POV_

  
  


As much as it hurt to be riding another horse, Citali was kind of a dream. She was fast and strong, brave and obedient, and best of all, I felt a little more steady on her back because the saddle wasn’t so wide. Sitting on Tilly was like sitting on a barrel, and after a whole day it made my pelvis very sore. On Citali, where I wasn’t spread quite so wide all day, I was surprisingly comfortable. It made the pain of being away from my best girl a little easier to bear. 

By the time we'd made it to Emerald Ranch I had adapted to her well. It helped that it was such an entertaining ride, the conversation actually reaching more than just Kook and me for once. That night was an interesting experience, getting drunk off expensive wine and crashing hard in an uncomfortable straw bed beside Jungkook. When he was drinking he got sociable and giggly, so I made sure not to ruin that for him by letting on how alcohol made me. Even before I was into him, it had always been quite the aphrodisiac. At least he was cute enough that I could make myself forget about it and enjoy his scrunched-face laughing and curl up beside him to sleep. 

Before I'd fully drifted off, though, I thought I heard tell-tale shuffling and heavy breaths in the next room. Could have been usual drunk groans, but if Yoongi and Hoseok ended up drinking and sharing a bed, I was delighted to presume they were getting busy. Even if I didn't trust Hoseok, the way he affected Yoongi was intriguing and hilarious. 

Bounty hunting in a different state every week kept me in the saddle for days at a time with only short breaks to sleep in between, so being on a comfortable horse, not to mention a fast one, made our travels more enjoyable. In combination with the increasingly sociable company, namely Yoongi, these bounty trips were becoming my favourite yet. We were focused and confident, never faltering in bringing the target in alive, and we made money quickly. The only thing that was difficult was leaving Jungkook. 

We spent our few and far-between nights together so tightly wound in each other’s arms that it was difficult to convince myself to leave in the early morning. It was difficult even the first few times before he learnt that he can use his body to keep me with him. In the frigid mornings before sunrise when I attempted to get up, he knew just where to put his hands to make me hesitate, and just where to kiss to melt my resolve. Still shy but growing more confident by the day, he made sure I couldn’t resist a single thing he offered. Even if, ultimately, his physical affection was a way of blackmailing me not to leave.

“ _Kook_ ,” I said a little exasperated one morning after gentle kisses had escalated to something desperate and new. He’d gotten used to me stopping it, cutting it short before I wasn’t able to leave at all, especially when shuffling around by the fire could be heard outside and sunlight was starting to seep through the canvas. I no longer had to remind him that yes, of course I wanted him, but I had a job to do, and I’d be back before he knew it. But that morning he found the confidence to accompany the usual sweet, sleepy kisses with a deliberate touch straight to the front of my trousers. He wasn’t even dissuaded by my groan; had tunnel vision for his goal and groped a little harder. 

My hesitation shattered with his newfound courage. With a defeated sigh that sounded more like a growl, I flipped him onto his back and pinned him to his bedroll. Just seconds into kissing his neck and grinding my hips down on him, he was breathing a hot, hurried ‘ _please_ ’ and wiggling his body against me for more contact. And it made sense that by now he was beyond pent-up, desperately needy for some release after all the times I'd pulled away just as he started to get heated. I only managed to control it because I wanted to be somewhere warm, dry, and comfortable when we took it further. I wanted to enjoy everything about him without numb fingers or someone else hearing his moans. But maybe it was time to take the edge off. Lord knows I was ready to burst from all of the build-up. 

Praying first of all that we wouldn't be interrupted this time, I kissed along his cheek while my hand buried under his layers of cotton and wool. We moaned in time as my hand wrapped around him and dragged up, squeezing just enough to find what made him respond. His head tipped back for a second, brows knitted when he looked back at me and lifted his head to find my lips. I pushed him back against the pillow and found a rhythm with our kiss and my stroking, growing rapidly excited by the feel of him in my hand and the way his breaths puffed hotly into my mouth. 

"Feels so good, Jimin," he sighed, looking at me with lidded eyes and pink across his cheeks. 

" _Mmm_ , you feel nice," I breathed back, wishing I could watch my hand. I decided to save that for when I got him alone somewhere warmer. The blankets were slipping off my shoulders, but I was hot enough now not to care too much. He pulled them up a little anyway. Though he lost track of what he was doing as my fingers came to his tip and toyed with it, spreading wetness down his length. His shudder accompanied a sound he caught in his throat, and I wanted to make him cry out. I knew I shouldn't, knew it would best if I hurried a little and kept it at that. But I craved his lustful voice, knowing it was me he wanted; ached to swallow those sounds with my mouth against his, and have his morning stubble rub me raw from my nose to my chin. Touching him like this made me want so much more. 

His hips rolled just noticeably into my hand, stuttering every time I squeezed a little tighter or rubbed the dripping head with the heel of my palm. I let him kiss me when he lifted his head, but didn't follow him when he rested against the pillow again; just wanted to watch his expression and everything my hand was doing to him playing on his face. While his end built up quickly I devoured the sight of thick veins showing in his neck, and the lust clouding his eyes, and the way his hands clenched on my arms like he needed the support. 

I recognised it when he peaked by the way his breath sped up rapidly until it caught in his throat, and his grip on me got so tight I was sure he'd leave marks. I managed to catch most of his shot in my hand, rubbing it down his cock and back up just to see what it'd do to him. It was only seconds before he pulled at my arm almost desperately, trembling all over and sucking in deep breaths. " _Gaahhh_ \- _please_ -" he begged again, voice shuddering. 

Grinning, fingers wet all over and resting at his base, I kissed his hot cheek gently. "How was that?" I asked, attempting to sound more in control than I felt. Realistically, I was halfway to climax as well. But I hoped he wouldn't notice. He was much too exhausted, and I didn’t want to make the others wait, so I nuzzled and kissed his jaw as he mumbled amazed breathy compliments and eventually dozed back off. 

Wrapped in my warmest coat, I emerged from our tent and grit my teeth while splashing water from a barrel over my hands. I shoved my frozen fingers into my gloves and tucked both hands under my armpits just as Taehyung passed me with a greeting. He wasn’t looking at me strangely, so I assumed Jungkook hadn’t been as loud as he sounded right in my ear. My mind was distant all morning, and luckily the others weren’t into talking that much, because they didn’t seem to notice.

We were out a few days longer than usual on that trip, finding a bounty in Annesburg to pursue after turning in the first one, and it was a week before we came to camp again. Namjoon, Sekojin, and Jungkook were a little alarmed when we finally rode into the clearing, but they got over it quickly. We’d been gone longer in the past. 

“It’s not hard to send a letter, you know,” Jin scolded. “I checked Strawberry every day for word.” 

“A letter would hardly have made it here before we did,” Yoongi grumbled back. I was relieved that his more sour moods seemed to be related to someone at camp, because he was uncharacteristically pleasant on the road these days. I assumed it was Namjoon. Our leader had been a little unfair confronting Yoongi about Hoseok the way he did. As much as I had to agree—Hoseok was a little shady—that didn’t give him the right to dictate what Yoongi did, especially if he had real feelings for the rustler. 

Luckily nobody so much as commented on Jungkook and me. Not to our faces anyway. It was as though nothing had changed at all for them, even when he jogged to Citali's side to take her reins and pulled me into a warm kiss the second my boots hit snowy mud. 

"How've you been?" He asked, eyes soft and concerned as they swept over me. I loved the way his hair was carelessly swept back over his head, a little longer than he usually liked it. I loved the way his arm felt around my waist. 

By the time I went to reply, he'd left me breathless. "Uhh… good," I sighed. "Profitable and incident-free." 

"Good. I missed you," he said, sincere and quiet before pressing his lips to my temple. I stepped forward to wrap my arms around him for a quick squeeze, a little shy about anyone watching our affectionate exchange. I went with him as he untacked the horses to help him groom and feed them, desperate for his company. Once we were done they looked happy and calm, so we wandered together to the fire to get warm and catch up. Jungkook fussed over me as usual, bringing me more food than I needed, some water and some ‘shine, and planting himself beside me so close we touched from our shoulders to our knees. He really knew how to make me smile. 

We only talked for around half an hour before I found myself falling asleep against him, so he hustled me to bed to get a good rest. Even though I was sure he could have stayed up much later, I was glad he decided to keep me company every night I was there. Falling asleep with his warm body against mine made me never want to leave camp again. 

The next time I did have to leave, I didn’t expect it to be so eventful. Yoongi and I decided to pursue the infamous rustler Fitzgibbons, and it took our bounty-hunting sub-posse north into the snow. As distasteful as that was in the frigid final month of winter, I had to admit to rabid curiosity about this all-woman gang. It turned out that having to leave Jungkook _and_ braving the frozen Grizzlies was worth it after all. 

The journey was a little quiet. When I wasn’t reminiscing about Jungkook’s lips on mine to keep myself warm, I was thinking about Hoseok and Yoongi. They sure had something interesting going on. I didn’t know if it would ever be anything more than it was now, but it made me curious nonetheless. Yoongi was a different person since Hoseok stayed with us. It was giving me whiplash; one day he was grouchy and antisocial, and the next I’d catch him smiling to himself at what seemed like nothing. Either I was terrible at reading people, or he was absolutely mashed. Why now, I wondered, when Hoseok had been around for years? During which Yoongi had not only shown no interest in Hoseok, but he'd shown no interest in anyone in that way. As we approached the old dilapidated outpost by the western side of Mount Hagen, I found myself smiling at the thought that came to me: what if it was the very night Hoseok and Yoongi spent here together that made him develop feelings? 

It must have been intense, that fateful day. Racing away from an invisible attacker into a violent snowstorm, lost and alone together with a nasty injury, nothing but their weapons, a fire, and some booze at their disposal. Anything can happen when you're in such dire straits. 

We spent the night in a dusty old cabin, apparently not the one Yoongi had stayed in that night, and set off for Fitzgibbons the next morning. Yoongi had been much more open about his feelings for Hoseok than Taehyung or I expected, so the rest of the freezing ride through northern snowy woods was filled with whispers between Tae and me about the potential lovers that Yoongi forcefully ignored while tracking the gang to their camp. 

~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~

_Chapter Glossary:_

**Gaffing:** jabbing a horse with spurs.

_Yoongi’s POV_

  
  


The three of us walked into the centre of camp, golden pistol pointed at our backs, hands raised to ensure we’d be shot before we could cause trouble. I watched as we turned heads, attempting not to give away how erie it was to be at the mercy of an all-female gang. It shouldn’t have felt scarier, but it did. Large, elaborate tents stood between trees, some more like huts with their thick leather bound to scaffolding and solid timber roofs. It seemed some were shared, several cots or bedrolls inside, and it looked leisurely compared to the home I was used to. Decorated, personal, even with a decent amount of privacy. 

I recognised Fitzgibbons the moment I saw her, but not because of the sketches. In fact, a drawing couldn’t have been further from her likeness no matter how hard you tried. Tall and graceful, fair-skinned but darkened from the sun, piercing green eyes, dressed immaculately in tight riding breeches and a fitted vest and jacket… she was stunning. Her curled sandy-red hair was worn loose, but tame and pretty, an expensive buffalo-hide hat atop it. I recognised her only because of the way she stood, the presence she commanded, the confidence with which she looked at us.

The shorter, older-looking woman to whom she was talking watched our entrance as well, and Clementine turned with a curious expression and slowly approached. I stopped, turning my face just enough to signal for the others to as well, and I waited as her boots trudged across snow and dirt that was scuffed away by human traffic. Feet from me, facing me for a second before looking past me to our ‘captor,’ she raised a sculpted brow as a smile touched her full, red lips.

“Found ‘em snooping, miss. Says he’s a friend of Cia’s.” 

Clementine looked back at me, eyes in line with mine, seeming to think for a moment. “Cia mentioned you fellers a while back,” she said thoughtfully, her voice level and low. “Thought there’d be more of you.”

“ _Señor_ Yoongi!” Came a familiar voice that made my head turn. Finally, a somewhat friendly face. “Your beloved was _just_ talking about you.”

 _My what_ , I thought with alarm, but not the confused kind of alarm that would imply I didn’t know what she meant. I knew who she was talking about. I assumed she was attempting a joke. It almost caused my stoic expression to slip as I looked past her to the open tent from which she’d emerged. 

And there he was, ducking to clear the triangular tent frame, soft black hair curling into his wide eyes as he looked at me. After taking in the scene he rushed over, waving a hand dismissively at the woman behind us, feet bare and jacket open to a sheer white shirt.

"Lower your gun, Patricia, they're friendly!" He begged. I turned my eyes back to Clementine and watched her as she watched him, and I lowered my arms as the pistol behind us was slid into a holster. 

"Do ya plan on tellin' me what brings yer gang all the way out here in the middle of winter?" Their leader asked, shoulders squaring as she rocked back, gloved hands loosely slung in her fur-trim coat pockets.

I had to think fast. We couldn’t tell her we had ventured up here on the off chance that we'd take her by surprise and turn her in for the bounty. Nor did I intend on revealing that I’d agreed to this trip entirely to lay eyes on the only man in the camp. What wouldn't be particularly suspicious was attempting to hide our reason for journeying here. So I did just that.

"Felt like going for a stroll," I answered, deceiving more confidence than I felt. I wasn't afraid in this company—wasn’t particularly afraid of being shot in general—but I was utterly on edge about standing a foot from Hoseok. Especially looking half-dressed as he did.

"Likely," Clementine said with a suspicious squint. "Lucky for you, my friends seem to trust you, so you can stay a while. Just don't get in our way." She began to saunter off, and then added over her shoulder, "Don't let them out of yer sight, Cia." Clearly she wasn’t afraid of us, either.

" _Comprende_ ," Lucrecia answered and slung an arm around my shoulders, though it was a bit of a reach for her. She began to pull me towards the tent from which she'd come, and I moved with her, confused by what just happened. "Are you gonna tell me why you're really here?" She asked in a low tone, almost whispering, definitely not entirely serious. She took back her arm outside her tent and turned to face me, a cheeky smile on her youthful face. "Or shall I keep your friends busy while you catch up with my favourite _chico_?"

I didn’t know how to answer, but as I glanced to my right to find Hoseok’s eyes, he was already looking back. His brows rose slightly with a somewhat casual expression, and he beckoned with his head towards the tent. It seemed our silent communication gave Lucrecia her answer, and she marched past me to take Jimin and Taehyung’s hands.

“Wanna see the horse we call Widowmaker?” she asked, pulling them away towards a set of corrals, and I watched for a second, annoyed by the way Jimin wiggled his eyebrows at me but thankful Hoseok couldn’t see. 

I followed Hoseok into the open canvas door, barely having to duck, but able to stand comfortably inside. It was more than twice the size of my tent. Inside were two beds, a large table with candles on either side and strewn belongings across it, and a few large storage crates beside the table. There was even somewhat of a floor made of a thin timber base attached to the scaffolding and fur rugs keeping it cozy to walk on. Hoseok rubbed snow from his bare feet on the rug, and I stepped out of my boots so not to track too much mud inside. He beckoned for me to sit on the bed on the right. I adjusted my Carcano over my shoulder and sat gently, the creaking of his cot sounding just like my own.

"How's it been?" He asked casually, his voice finishing in an exhale as he sat on the floor in front of the bed, facing me. The other bed was hardly a step behind him, but I didn't ask why he chose the floor instead. 

"Good," I began, having trouble feeling casual around him after so long. After how we'd left it, especially. "Uh. Busy. Been bounty hunting mostly." I noticed clothing beside me slung across the bed, and his usual fancy blue and black boots on the floor. I figured we interrupted him while he was washing, which would explain his lack of outfit. But even so undressed, he wore his flashy silver jewelry that I hadn’t seen on him in a while, and his hair was neatly trimmed but still just above his ears and sweeping into his eyes. He looked healthy, happy, good in a way I hadn’t seen since before his injury, cheeks rosy from the cold and the hint of a grin always lingering on his lips. The scar on his forehead was all but gone.

"So you're looking for work?" he asked, shifting from having his legs crossed to plant his foot on the rug with his knee pointed up, and he leant back on his hands. I hated how I couldn't stop my eyes sliding down his front, loose shirt and open jacket doing nothing to distract from his lithe frame as it was stretched out in front of me. I could see the soft curves of his chest through such light fabric and wondered how he wasn’t shivering without underwear. I quickly looked at my hands and fiddled in an attempt to divert my attention.

“Something like that.”

“Even after I recommended not pursuing this particular lead?” He asked, and I glanced down at him to check if I was right in thinking I heard a smile in his voice. I was. 

“There were no other posters,” I explained, voice level despite feeling sheepish about it.

“Well it works out well for me,” he began, and I realised why he’d taken his new pose now as he crept forward and sat up, much closer to me. I reeled internally at having him in my personal space bubble again and watched him reach for a shallow pan of water to drag it across the floor towards us. “Because I have a very high-paying business proposal for you.”

“What are you doing?” I finally asked, bewildered as he took one of my feet in his hand and removed my sock. His interesting statement couldn’t outweigh my alarm at having him touch me. Nothing ever did. 

“I believe,” he said as he placed the pan of surprisingly warm water under my now bare feet. “It’s called ‘buttering you up.’” 

Would I not like the aforementioned business proposal, I wondered? He slowly explained himself, though his words took a while to register while he washed and massaged my feet. Almost nothing compared to the feeling of his thumbs pressing hard into the arches and rubbing between my bones. I only managed to control half of my delighted moans. I was well and truly buttered up. 

“I’m hoping you could ask Namjoon to lend us your posse for some extra muscle… Clem doesn't want to risk too many of hers, you see. And it will pay very, very well.”

After a few long moments of near silence—only distant wildlife, usual camp banter, the clink of delicate jewelry, and the soft trickling of water from his hands reaching my ears—I managed to find my voice again. “Depends on the job.” I didn’t want to shut him down immediately, but I was certain it would be a ‘no’ from our leader. 

“We uh… _she_ has a heap of history with the Braithwaite family… there was an incident recently and she’s decided she needs to end it. Get rid of them, I guess. Needs a few more guns to make the process go a little smoother.” 

“Hmm,” I tried to say, but it was really more of an ecstatic groan. 

“Anyway. You’d be set for the whole next year if you helped her pull it off. I know Namjoon doesn’t like making enemies, but if the family was wiped out well, that would solve that issue, right?”

I wanted to tell him that I was in regardless of what Namjoon said. Not because of his heavenly foot rub, though; I would have done anything he asked for without needing something in return. I only hesitated so not to seem quite as infatuated as I was.

“I only ask because… I know yer posse is competent, and I don’t want my friends getting hurt, ya know?” 

“I’ll ask him,” I managed, throat thick and legs like jelly. “When is this supposed to happen?”

“When we have the numbers.” 

I watched his masterful hands, long fingers finding the sorest places and working pain and tension out, all the way from my Achilles tendon to my toes, and I wished this never had to end. I found myself imagining his hands up my legs as well, soothing deep into my flesh. Heat rose in my cheeks. After all this time he could still affect me in exactly the same way. 

He dried his hands and my feet on a towel while I collected myself. “Was that all you came for?” he asked, not suspicious. Not outwardly at least. “You’ll be on your way now?”

I shrugged as he stood, and I watched him rummage through a crate and pull out a pair of thick woolen socks and hand them to me. “Uh, thanks,” I said and quickly covered my feet from the chilled air, though it was strangely warmer inside the tent even with the door wide open. “Since you’re here, we could do some shooting practice?”

He considered it, brow quirking for a second as he smirked. “I’d like that. I’ll need it for the mission, right?” He put another pair of socks on then and buttoned up his coat, and we both pulled our boots on before heading outside. 

“You’re planning to be a part of that?” I asked, surprised. He hadn’t been much for dangerous missions in my experience.

“I can’t ask you and expect you to go without me, now, can I?”

He led me past a few more tents and past the corrals where Jimin and Taehyung were sitting on the edge of a timber fence listening to Lucrecia tell some epic-sounding story. He shouted to her that we’d be firing so the gang wouldn’t worry, and she stuck up her thumb in response. 

“How well you shoot will decide,” I answered as I lifted my rifle strap over my head and handed it to him. He hesitated for just a second, still walking towards the outskirts of the camp into thicker woods. 

“You won’t let me come if I’m a rotten shot?” He joked as he grabbed my Carcano by the barrel. I dropped the strap and smiled.

“Careful, she’s loaded.” 

His whole demeanour changed at that. We stopped a few minutes walk through thick snow, and the northern cliffs towered in front of us. I walked right up to the sheer, grey rock face and turned around to look into the forest. 

“Let me mark some trees as targets.” I set to work with my bone knife, drawing Xs on a few large pines. 

“Isn’t it dangerous to fire back towards camp?”

I shrugged. We were too far away for my rifle to hit anyone at that range, but I joked anyway. “Better not miss the trees.”

He gulped. 

“Remember your posture and how to hold her?” I asked, about six trees marked, and I trudged back through the horrible, freezing mess to stand beside him. The targets were about fifteen paces away, each tree hardly as wide as the breadth of my shoulders, so it wouldn’t be easy. Hoseok passed the rifle into his right hand and gripped it properly. As he raised it to his face I watched his body tense. His elbows pointed too much, and his breathing stopped completely. When I didn’t say anything for a moment, he lowered it again and looked at me.

“Uh, like that?” 

I cleared my throat, “You have to keep breathing.” I watched him take a deep breath and nod. “And… tip this elbow in,” I added, pushing gently on his left arm. “The other one is fine but this one might throw off your aim. Keep it close to your body so your bicep doesn’t shake.”

He looked down the scope. “And then I just… aim and fire?”

I moved the stand a little more behind him for a better angle on where he was aiming. “Firstly, you need to breathe out as you fire. And when you go to fire… uh.” I didn’t know how to explain this well. Shooting had been instinctive for more than half of my life. "Your heartbeat adjusts your aim. If you fire on a beat, it will throw your shot off. You have to fire uh… between heartbeats.”

His eyes widened with surprise, gun lowering, and he glanced over his shoulder towards me for a second, somewhere between surprised and concerned. “And if my heart is racing?”

I breathed a laugh through my nose. I hoped he’d never lose this precious innocence. “Just fire. We can work on fine-tuning when you're used to it.” 

“Just fire?”

I nodded. His cheek rested against my Caracano's chocolate leather bindings and I watched him go tense again. Even as he made a point of exhaling, he wasn’t relaxed. I heard the trigger clunk before I could remind him he still had to pull the hammer.

“What the-?” He said, and I shook my head.

“I said it was loaded; I didn't say the bullet was chambered. You have to cock it before every shot.”

“This?” He asked, touching the hammer. I nodded and watched him figure out the bolt-action. It made it's usual satisfying chink. “Now it's ready to fire?”

“Now it's ready.”

He sighed, and with it I watched tension leave his shoulders. All of my instruction and all of the distractions seemed to have calmed him just a touch. Now, as he pointed it forward and peered down the scope, he was a little more still, a little more prepared. I checked the butt of it against his shoulder to make sure he wasn't going to hurt himself, checked his elbow, checked his muzzle-hand. And when I was content, I quietly said, “fire.”

The shot made him flinch, but the bullet was flying before it could affect his aim. To my pleasant surprise, he landed it decently close to one of my Xs as well. After a moment of surprise, peering wide-eyed at the tree where a chunk of wood had been chipped away, he turned to me, rifle lowering absently. 

“I hit it?” He asked, incredulous.

“Well, you hit the tree.” 

“I was aiming for the tree.”

“Aim for the X. Again.”

Hoseok huffed and raised my rifle. His shoulders rolled with discomfort. “Hurts a little. The recoil.”

“You’ll get used to it. Elbow down.”

We practiced like this for a while, and he got rapidly better. Even though he moaned about his shoulder where my powerful rifle was couched, he didn’t give up. I found it easier to focus on his aim, his pose, and his technique than I expected. After decent improvement and a lifetime more praise than I deserved for the training, I recommend we call it quits for the day.

“That’s about five bucks in high velocity rounds you owe me,” I joked, and only after checking my expression did he laugh. It reminded me how sensitive he could be, and I made sure to tone it down. I hadn’t missed the way he made me feel cold and distant.

“Ah,” he said, as though something came to him. “We have great training yards here. Shall we work on Mateo?”

Surprised, I quickly agreed. “Absolutely.” 

My companions and _Cia_ , which I got used to thinking of her as, watched from the fence as we led Mateo inside. The snow and dirt was scuffed here too in a rough circle around the outside of the round pen. I looped Mateo's reins around his neck and grabbed the saddle horn, but Hoseok stopped me.

“Hold on now. All good training starts from the ground. And breathe deep. Remember, calm rider, calm horse.” 

Hoseok explained some things about riding cues and the things horses learnt to understand from their rider. He talked about pressures, voice commands, the reins in my hands, my seat, my legs. I watched as he led Mateo around, demonstrating the things my horse should have known, which he clearly didn't. I hadn’t trained him from the ground, I’d trained him from the saddle. After a while Hoseok mounted him and demonstrated the things he was talking about. He had his feet loose, my stirrups too short for his longer legs, and he only gently held the reins in one hand. As usual, I was enraptured watching the way he was with Mateo. His explanations made sense as he showed me each cue he talked about and my stallion’s reactions. 

“Yer turn,” he said, slipping skillfully out of the saddle facing me. I mounted up and settled in, toes finding my stirrups, and imagined looking half as professional as he did. 

It went well to start with. Mateo had picked up a lot in a short time. He was soft and responsive compared to normal. He would go from a walk to a trot with no more than a voice command, and I could halt him just by sitting back in the saddle and dropping my heels. I couldn’t tell if this kind of fine control would hold up in a much more stressful situation, but it sure felt good to have Hoseok smile at me like he was. It also felt different for Mateo to be so calm under me. He chewed his bit and pointed his ears around at me with focus instead of standing tense and waiting for a command. He didn’t swish his tail when I cued him to speed up. He seemed happier. 

It all went downhill, maybe because we tried to do too much in too short a time, when I asked for a canter and he didn’t respond. Impatient, I jabbed my spurs into his side, and Mateo bucked. That wasn’t too uncommon for him, but it was frustrating after how well things had been going. The quiet partnership we'd just begun to build fell apart as I rode through his tantrum, reins short to hold his head up and heels digging sharp iron into his ribs. As soon as he was standing in one place, snorting angrilly, ears pinned and tail whipping, Hoseok was at my side. 

Mateo swung his hind away, spooked, as Hoseok tore my spur from my boot in one strong yank. “At what point did I say to start gaffin him like that?” He shouted. I stared, incredulous. He had only been this angry around me once before. But this time, it was directed at me. “What do you think it means to him when you start stabbin him with this?” He went on, holding it up to emphasise his point. The way he’d grabbed it made the points lacerate his hand, and he seemed to not even notice the red trickle down his wrist. “It hurts him, Yoongi. It scares him! A scared horse can’t learn anything. He just runs because you've gone and frightened him.” 

I didn’t know how to respond, so I didn’t. His words made guilt settle in my gut. I loved Mateo and I didn’t want to hurt him. And… it seemed I was upsetting someone else I loved as well. 

“God dammit,” he cursed, throwing the broken spur into the mud. “I know you can't stand me, but you could at _least_ listen to me for yer horse’s sake.”

I had wanted to forget what Jimin had said about him thinking I didn’t like him. It was so far-fetched. Sure, he was sensitive and I was blunt, but I couldn’t figure out how he’d come to such a conclusion. I watched, feeling helpless and heartbroken as he stormed away sparing just a second to glance at his hand, palm shining and dripping with red. 

I dismounted and stood beside my puffing, cranky horse, knowing I’d made him that way. I hadn’t thought about my spurs causing him pain, only knew that they worked. I hadn’t seen his reactions as ones of fear or pain, because it was what I was used to seeing. But now, with his eyes wild, lips tense, and tail swishing, I couldn't see it as anything else. I would have to work on myself if I ever wanted a shot at improving things for my horse.

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~  
  


_Jimin’s POV_

Sitting astride a tall yard fence beside Taehyung, I watched Lucrecia and another gang member work a tall, glossy black mare in a large round yard. She looked like a thoroughbred, the kind imported from Europe and worth hundreds of dollars, but she acted like a mustang. Her responses to pressure were wild and unpredictable, and at times she would threaten to charge and bite, but never quite made contact as the women training her were quick with their whips. Seeing past her aggression, I could tell she was frightened. I tried not to let it upset me—I was told I was too soft on horses sometimes—and simply tried to enjoy her beauty. Widowmaker seemed a fitting name. 

When Cia was finished showing off, she came to perch on the fence beside us, facing us, and seemed full of conversation. We talked about horses, towns, food, hunting, gangs, the law, and Clementine. And then Hoseok. Cia had a lot to say about him, and a lot to ask well. 

"He's my best friend, more like a brother sometimes, so when he's away doing whatever he does, it can be stressful not to see him for a long time," she explained, and we knew exactly how that felt. Even now I was wishing Jungkook was here. 

"Has he stayed with you guys since you visited us last?" Taehyung asked. 

"Mostly," she said, nodding. "It's been nice. But he runs off occasionally. And I don't really understand what it is that triggers it, it's almost like sometimes he just needs a change of scenery, though sometimes it feels like he's actually running from us."

I was curious about that, because Hoseok didn't seem the type to be all that worried about much. This camp was almost like a town of its own, the tents looking more like houses, and if he was comfortably accepted here, why leave? Aside from the fact that they were a criminal operation, of course.

Taehyung had something to add then. "Not a lot of male company here for him, though," he said with a reserved knowing smirk, and Cia grinned, nodding after a moment with her eyes dropping to the snow.

"No, of course, sometimes I'm sure he disappears just to get laid, or make some money with some other contacts of his. But he never tells anyone he's planning to leave, as though it's a hurried decision, and he seems to fret the whole time he's packing."

"As though he doesn't wanna go," I offered, and Cia nodded. 

"A little bit. Like something here is forcing him to, or he thinks it is anyway. Clem says he just likes to run from things… whatever that means." 

We drifted away from the topic of Hoseok for a while, Cia telling us some stories of their rustling adventures, and we all glanced over to watch as Hoseok and Yoongi passed us through the snow, walking into the woods. Cia watched them go for a little longer than us, and she met my eyes right after. 

"Your friend is… _un poco enamorado_."

Taehyung and I grinned at her and then each other. 

"Not that I blame him," she continued. "But I worry for his feelings."

"We tried to convince him to talk to Hoseok about it," I explained. "Maybe he will. We'll just have to see what results." 

"Hoseok talks about you all a lot," Cia said. "But about him the most. Even if he doesn't notice he's doing it. I try not to tease him about it but it seems like there's something there. They've definitely been _íntimo_ , right?" 

We both nodded. "Oh yeah," Tae said as though it was highly obvious. 

"Yoongi told you?"

We nodded gain. 

"Ah. Hoseok tells me a few things like this but not about Yoongi. He only talks about that guy respectfully. It makes me think he feels different, you know?" 

I smiled, agreeing. That was what we hoped, at least. 

After a while we wandered through the camp together, mostly because I complained about the cold, and Cia introduced us to her close friends. A woman named Alison—maybe twice Cia's age but equally athletic and naturally attractive—was tending to an injured dog. It didn't look too serious, but the red and white husky was whimpering and struggling. Cia helped hold it while she introduced us.

"You fellers know anyone who wants a snow dog?" Allison asked, and after a moment it dawned on me that I did. 

"How much?" I asked, and Taehyung looked at me like I was strange. 

"Whatever you can offer me, you can take one of these darn pups."

As she said it she beckoned towards a nearby tent, inside which was a sleeping pile of delightfully cute husky pups, some red and white and some grey and white. 

"Precious when they're snoozin', ain't they?"

I wondered if Yoongi would kill me for this, but imagining Jungkook’s reaction made it worthwhile. So, naturally, I purchased a black and white male pup.

When Yoongi and Hoseok returned from firing practice, I was curious to see what they were up to in one of the gang's yards with Mateo. As usual, watching Hoseok with horses was mystifying, and they even drew somewhat of a crowd. About six others gathered around the fences to watch, all seeming enthralled. It wasn't clear how he did it, but the stallion moved differently around him, and as he explained things to Yoongi, Mateo began to move differently for him as well. The stallion's whole posture and body shape seemed to change as he began to move in a powerful way, tail swinging loosely and ears flopping comfortably to the side or tilted backwards to listen to his rider. He sure was a majestic beast with his flashy brown and white coat, jet black mane fanning over startling blue eyes, curving neck and muscular legs giving him a perfectly attractive outline. Hoseok had an enviable ability to bring out the best in every horse. 

Yoongi on the other hand was rather average with horses, and despite picking up on Hoseok's lessons easily, he met with an impatient streak and upset the process. The lesson ended abruptly with Hoseok becoming uncharacteristically angry, which made Yoongi look devastated. Taehyung and I exchanged concerned looks after that, but hurried to leave with Yoongi as he did so. 

With Jungkook's new pup in Citali's saddle bag—looking rather thrilled to be there—we left at a fast canter through the snow and began our gruelling journey home somewhat empty-handed. 

~~~~~~~~~~

  
  
AAAA for some reason I thought this chapter had something that it doesn't so now I'm excited to update the next one XD

Hope you liked!!


	25. Spellbound

Yo what's up  👀 I had no chill waiting to upload this so here it is... enjoy Hogi and plz anticipate upcoming Jintae >8D

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_ Chapter Glossary: _

**Mad as a march hare:** very angry.

** Sixes And Sevens ** **:** To be in a state of disorder and confusion.

**Unshucked:** Naked, be it of a person or a gun outside it’s holster.

** Worse than a cat in a roomful of rockers: ** incredibly nervous.

**Wrathy:** very angry.

_ Yoongi’s POV _

  
  


A few days passed before I asked Namjoon about the job with Fitzgibbons. I hadn’t found it in me to do much more than lay in bed and read before then. It was warm, and I could get lost in stories about other people’s shitty lives instead of my own. I couldn’t escape him in my dreams, but I wasn’t sleeping well enough for that to bother me. Jungkook tried to encourage me to come hunting, but I wasn’t willing to get on Mateo again; I felt too guilty. I groomed him and locked him in his yard at night, but I didn’t tack him up or ride. Jungkook didn’t pester me about it, however. He was busy with his new pet. Finally, Jungkook had his ‘Cody’ he’d always wanted so badly.

Over a simple breakfast—one of the only times in the day where there was any semblance of silence—I took the opportunity to bring it up. “Anyone interested in a very high-paying job?” I hadn’t spoken to Namjoon much recently, either, so this was going to be interesting. 

I piqued everyone's interest at least. Namjoon eyed me, finishing his mouthful with a thoughtful expression. “Sounds awful tempting. What’s the catch?”

I knew it wouldn't matter how I said it: it was all going to have the same impact on Namjoon. “We'd be teaming up with Fitzgibbons.”

He scoffed, fake amusement on his face. “Right. So it’s dirty money.”

“No dirtier than your ‘shine money,” Taehyung pointed out, and I smirked, glancing at the fire as I sat back and crossed my legs. 

“I feel like murder—on such a scale, at that—would be considered a little more illegal than illicit trade,” Seokjin countered, and it was the first time I‘d seen those two lock eyes in about a month. It lasted all of two seconds before Taehyung turned away. 

“I’d rather be broke than caught working for her,” Namjoon said with a tone of finality. “Whatever the job.”

“What  _ is _ the job?” Jungkook asked. 

I looked at him then, hoping he didn’t expect me to let him be a part of it. “Braithewaite familicide.”

He let out a low whistle. “Seems risky. That place is armed to the teeth.”

“I guess we go in quiet. We’ve faced worse.”

Namjoon put his plate down by the fire and stood, head shaking side to side. “It’s still a no, Yoongi. We can’t afford to be any more associated with her than we already are.”

“Okay,” I said, making sure not to look like I cared. “One out, one in. Anyone else?”

Despite the sudden shocked glare from Namjoon who had begun to walk away, Jimin put his hand up. “I’m in.”

Namjoon spun to face us fully. “Seriously?” Clearly none of us cared that he expected us to follow his decision regardless of the group consensus. 

“Me too,” Taehyung added, and then in a heartbeat Seokjin raised his hand without looking up from the fire.

“Me also.”

“So,” Namjoon began, covering his face with both hands for a second, exasperated. “Yer all perfectly happy to be caught red-handed workin’ for Fitzgibbons and murderin’ folk? And not only that but doin’ it against my wishes?”

“I’ll make sure to say sorry when I get back,” I said sarcastically. With that I decided to drag myself up to prepare. I didn’t know if we would head off today, or even if I had it in me to go back and see Hoseok again so soon. Seeing my rifle rested on the table in my tent reminded me of how relaxed and comfortable I’d felt around him before I ruined it all. My eyes drifted shut, images of his concentrated gaze and delicate fingers swimming in my mind. 

I jumped in shock when Jimin suddenly interrupted with a breathy ‘hey’ from the entrance of my tent. He followed up with a hurried apology, his voice suspiciously soft.

“What, Jimin?”

“Uh. I want… I wanna come and be a part of this, you know, back you up, but… I don’t want Kook to go.”

That explained the whispering. “Stay here with him. I don’t want him coming either.”

“But what if y’all need me?”

I grinned and faced him for a second, grabbing my revolver from my gun belt to give it a clean. “I think we’ll manage.” 

His throat worked for a moment while he thought, and then he nodded, eyes pointing away. Luckily he and Taehyung hadn’t approached me about Hoseok in the past few days. I didn’t want to talk about it. I thought maybe I should, because it felt good when I did; helped me settle myself about things, and sometimes they even helped with their advice as well. But there was nothing I could do about this, and nothing they could say, because it was Hoseok I needed to set things right with. I was just terrified to do something wrong and make it worse. Even more, I was terrified it was already too late. 

I sat myself down on my bed and kicked my boots off. I tried not to let it show on my face that seeing these socks was a startling reminder of what was on my mind. I sat back, propped-up by my pillows against the rough timber tent frame.

"Good luck then, I guess," Jimin said as he went to leave, but something made him stop suddenly, boot scuffing on dirt. "Oh- this… could be interesting."

Vaguely curious, I looked up from my half-disassembled firearm, but I couldn't see much outside on my angle. I heard muffled voices from the campfire, what sounded like my name once or twice, and then Jimin turned to look at me, a strange wide-eyed look on his face. "You might need that good luck for right now," he said, and then he ducked away, footsteps almost jogging after he disappeared from sight. A second later, I almost dropped the iron in my hands from shock. 

Hoseok. In the flesh, storming right in the door of my tent and batting at the folded canvas flaps until they closed behind him. I gulped. What was he doing here, and why did he look infuriated? And… why did he shut the doors? Was I about to be executed? Surely not. 

His anger wasn’t just all over his face but evident in his every movement. He kicked off his boots and came to the side of my cot. I sat up, more alarmed than the vague discomfort I always felt in his presence, and let the revolver tumble onto the bed beside me. He was so mad, as mad as the last time I’d seen him. I could only assume it was directed at me. He hadn't spoken, which was a little worrying.

Almost panicking then, I hurried to think of a way to diffuse him. “Hoseok… I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you; it was just instinct.” I tried to explain myself, though my words gradually slowed as I watched him take off his coat and vest. “Y-you said you'd teach me and you did! I learnt a lot. You're a great teacher, I just-” My babbling trailed off as he threw his gun belt to the floor and bared his legs, trousers kicked off his feet to cover his boots. In just his sheer white shirt that covered him to where his fingers hung at his thighs, he swung a leg over me and sat right in my lap. Suddenly breathless, I reeled.

“I’m not angry at you,” he finally said, eyes dark and fixated on me. He placed his hands, hidden beneath too-long white sleeves, delicately upon my shoulders. “Well. I’m a little angry at you.” 

“Whh…” I trailed off, my gut churning with nervousness to the point where I thought I might be sick. He was so close, long, bare thighs pressed against mine, hands making soothing movements up and down my shoulders. His face was much too close. I swallowed in an attempt to make my voice come back to me. "What are you doing?" I breathed, eyes tilted up to politely linger in his so I wasn't tempted to stare at his see-through shirt. He was quite a bit taller than me in this position, and the way he leered down at me was just one of the many things making my heart beat faster. 

“I knew,” he began, switching his gaze between my eyes, a tiny smile starting on his lips, but he still seemed agitated. “When you came to Clem’s camp you didn’t come for money; you came for me. You wanted more. I’m gonna give you more.”

My next exhale trembled. “More?”

“Mhm,” he hummed, hands sliding down my back and then up over my shoulders to my chest. “I need a distraction. And you get to be the lucky collateral.”

I had previously promised myself that I wouldn't let anything like this happen again. That my feelings for him were too strong for it to be okay. That it meant too much to me when he touched me. That I couldn't handle feeling like it meant nothing to him. But here he was, all but naked and perched on top of me, telling me what he was about to do, and I wanted nothing more than to just let him. 

Who was I kidding? I could never have brought myself to stop him. 

His hands didn’t linger long, but where they touched sizzled, even through layers of warm clothing. I couldn’t decide between watching his hands or his face; the way he opened my coat and then—with the clinking of his silver rings on my steel buckle—opened my belt as well, or the way his mouth hung absently open and his eyes followed his fingers on their mission. I got a glimpse of a dirty white bandage on his right hand as my trouser buttons were worked open. It reminded me of a way to distract myself while I tried to remember how to breathe.

Voice strangely steady, I asked him, “how’s your hand?”

He met my eyes for a second, and looking at him like that with his touch on me shook me in just the way I remembered. Covering up a second’s hesitation with a smirk, he hummed in thought. “It’s all right. Can still get you off if that’s what you’re worried about.”

I wanted to shake my head and tell him that that wasn’t at all what I meant, but I couldn't muster a response with his fingers slipping into my underwear. What exactly was it he planned on doing while sitting trouserless on top of me, I wondered, trembled a little as his skin touched mine. What a familiar but startling feeling, not only because his fingers were icy on my warm flesh. Just moments in his slightly uncoordinated left hand and I was stiff as a board, heart hammering, mind racing. I had to stop watching just to find some way to calm down. 

His cheeks were dusted such a lovely pink, the colour spreading ever so slightly, and it reminded me that, if past experience was anything to go by, this was something he found quite arousing. Thinking about my body turning him on gave me butterflies. Just enough that I could distance my thoughts from his hand on my cock long enough to convince myself that this was okay. I didn’t have to panic. 

Because that's exactly what I did when he touched me like this. I was shocked by his boldness, overwhelmed by the intensity, and anxious that it was all just a bit of light fun for him; and that was making me fall to pieces. Without sufficient distraction, I would be panicking. 

But I held it together with my gaze on his lips, soft and pink and slick from his tongue poking out to wet them. I got lost in how much I wanted to touch them, press my own against them. And then he dragged me back. Wiggling forward and making my bed creak, he sat up a little taller with his chest right in my face and spat in his hand before he reached behind himself. Suddenly I knew exactly what he was planning.

With my covers bunched in my fists and my teeth clenched until my jaw protested in pain, I struggled to sit still while he worked himself down on me. Breathless and stunned, I wondered if it was supposed to take this long, if it was usually this difficult, or if the glimpses of pain on his expression every few moments were normal. After a while his hands came to my shoulders again, and I met his gaze. His dark, pretty eyes were heavily clouded with lust, and he licked along his bottom lip absently while he returned my stare. My next inhale was sharp and stuttered, a response to his hips rolling forward, driving me deeper, dragging the tight grip his body had on me lower. Agonisingly slowly, he rocked himself against me, fingers tightening on me every now and again and then relaxing as though he hadn't meant to let it happen. 

Only when my hands came to his thighs did I realise how much I was trembling. Either from the bone-deep, earth-shaking pleasure, or from how anxious it made me that he might react badly, stop me touching him, stop all of this. But his hands came to mine instead. He squeezed my fingers against his flesh, muscles flexed as he rocked a little faster back and forth, and I looked up to see him watching me. 

“Steady,” he breathed, slowing just a little. “Stop me if it's too much.”

_ Too much _ , I repeated in my mind. He had been too much for quite some time. But even though he had charged in here flaming with anger, he was controlled and gentle now, tender not just in the way he touched me but in his eyes. As though this was different to before, he showed a vulnerability I felt every time I was near him. Like this was a little overwhelming for him as well. Like he was on the brink of sharing something with me that he wasn’t ready to share. 

Maybe he hadn’t done this before, either. 

Never before had it been so difficult to keep myself from doing  _ something _ . I’d always wanted to reach out and touch him, lean in to kiss him, anything that would bring me closer, but this time it was different. I  _ needed _ to do  _ something _ . He was moving so slowly but the places he touched ached for more. Before I had a chance to conjure up some reason not to, I slid my hands under his shirt and up to his hips. I paused just to feel a little, explore this while he was letting me. My thumbs pressed against his sharp hip bones, felt along and under them. I couldn’t see what I was doing, but I could see what it was doing to him. 

His breath was warm as it washed over me with a sigh that broke into a moan. The sound drove me wild, threw sparks down my spine and encouraged a little more bravery. Holding his hips firmly, I raised one of my feet onto the bed, thigh against his back, and tipped my hips up against him. Hoseok’s hands slid up my arms and gripped my biceps, back arching until he was all but flush against me. My mouth filled with saliva from the feeling of him taking even more of me in. I wanted him sitting right in my lap, wanted to feel that grip right at my base and his warmth all around me.

He seemed to want the same, holding tight to my arms as he moved. He was a combination of careful and eagre, rushing but hesitant and growing breathless as colour spread down his neck. I tried to follow the smooth rolling of his hips with mine, and the frame of my tent creaked as I rocked it a little too hard. Hoseok grinned, a genuinely amused but breathless smile taking over his face for a moment, and he reached a hand to hold the wooden beam behind me, slender arm tense beside my head. 

That smile was so close, and my tongue danced behind my lips to taste it. But I wasn’t that brave. It was already too much without taking on anything else. I could hardly believe any of this was happening. He reached behind himself to rest his other hand on the fabric covering my thigh, and very slowly he pressed down until he was sitting his weight down on me fully, and his smile dissolved completely. The look that covered his face now was blatant, unashamed, dazed enjoyment, head tipped back, mouth wide open, and eyes softly shut. He looked just how I felt. 

I watched his chest rising and falling under the light white cotton until he tipped his head down again. I met his eyes, fighting to hold still until I knew he was ready to move again. He didn’t wait long, and the arm that was behind him moved to my shoulder again. His fingers were still so cold, or maybe they felt colder because I was so hot. I flinched from the shock of it when he adjusted his position just a little, and he paused suddenly, a second of surprise crossing his face before he smiled softly. I wondered if he had any idea how this felt for me, because I sure had no idea what he was feeling, except that judging by his moans, it was good. 

“This okay?” he asked in a whisper, and I nodded, swallowing the excess of spit in my mouth before I started drooling. He took a deep breath then, eyes holding mine with a sparkle of mischief and twice as much lust. I couldn’t look away as he began to move again, and we found a rhythm together in moments. I still couldn’t look away as we sped up, and my cot began to creak in time. Eventually his eyes dropped to my lips, and fuck, I thought he was going to kiss me. A deep moan rumbled in my throat as I was reminded again how much I wanted that, and I dragged my hands up his sides, desperate for  _ something _ . And he let me. He didn’t stop a thing he was doing as I revealed his body, swiped my fingers up his obliques and around to his shoulder blades so carefully. I took my time down his back, thrilled by the way his muscles moved.

Distracted by his unique contour, I snapped back to attention from one of his louder moans and realised that I was quite far along. Despite the frigid air and light layer of frost outside, heat swirled around us. The way he moved on me was just the way I’d always imagined; controlled and fluid. Except, of course, when it wasn’t, such as when he stuttered and lost the rhythm, trembled on me, thighs tightening around mine, ass clenching on my cock and making me groan. But he was always back in rhythm again in seconds, and before long I had to start taking preventative measures not to completely fall apart. Maybe I would last a little longer if I didn’t let my muscles clench so hard from my belly to my thighs. Maybe if I controlled my breathing I could focus better. God, I did not want this to end. 

His rocking turned to bouncing, movements urgent as he gripped my coat trim, and we panted hotly in time. My hands found his hips again to hold him while I bucked up against him, not even trying to match his rhythm anymore, just desperate for friction and as much of his tight heat I could get. An unexpected sharp cry made me falter and check on him, startled, but he whined and ground his ass down on me hard as though begging me not to stop. “Keep doin’ that,” he breathed, pretty lips parted as his pleasured sighs slipped out. “ _ Yes _ , Yoongi.”

And with that I lost control, let everything build up all at once, overwhelming tension coiling in my groin while I gave him what he wanted. He clung to me, his moans blending together, his legs trembling until he pressed his face into my collar and groaned through his climax. I wanted to stop, maybe even slow down just a little, but I was so close too. I cursed as it built up more, and more,  _ and more _ , until it was definitely too intense. It can’t have been this intense before. And then finally it hit me, wreaking havoc on every muscle in my body, until my fingers left bruises on his pelvis and my back cramped up. I felt like I’d had about five orgasms at once.

We didn’t move for a while, my feet on the floor and my hands on my blanket, his thighs trembling on either side of mine and his fists bunched in my jacket. When he did it was slow. He sat up, still panting lightly when he looked at me. I felt so horribly weak with his eyes in mine. Not just physically, but in every way. Once again he’d proven that I was utterly spellbound; powerless against everything about him. Despite that, I wasn’t brave enough to kiss him, or even say what I wanted. Because his eyes only lingered in mine for a moment, and then he was pointing a slow exhale to his left and easing himself off me. 

Somehow I was still surprised that he was so tight, every inch sending sharp stabs of overstimulated pleasure through me, and I gasped when he was finally swinging his leg over and collapsing beside me with his back on my blanket and his feet on the floor. I didn’t feel brave anymore. I felt unbearably delicate with his bare leg against my trousers and the smell of his sweat all around me. But ultimately, it was that exhaustion that wore down the defence that usually stopped me opening my mouth for fear of what might come of my words. 

“I don’t… I don’t hate you, you know,” I said with a low but steady voice. The world seemed violently quiet for a few moments while it soaked in, and I felt like if I moved it would cause an earthquake. Seconds passed like hours.

After a sigh, he sat up and stood. I watched, feeling much too weak to move. “Thanks,” he said with a tired smirk, his hair askew and his eyelids heavy. He looked like a different person to when he came in. “Good to know.” He also looked like he didn't quite believe me, that smirk a little too careless as he redressed and stepped into his boots. I covered myself again, more to keep the cold out as it slowly set back in than for modesty. He spared me a passing glance before turning to leave. “Will I see you at Rhodes on Sunday?” He asked over his shoulder, lifting the canvas doors of my tent to hook open again. I shivered, the breeze as cold as his nonchalant expression. 

“We’ll be there, Hoseok,” I assured him, my voice embarrassingly thick and croaky with emotion. And then he left. 

I woke a little before the evening, disorientated from snoozing through the day, and dragged myself up from my uncomfortable napping position towards the promise of spiced stew and hot buttered bread. Around the fire, Jungkook sat on a rug against a large log with Jimin lounging between his legs and whittling another small toy. The others must have been in their tents. Curious stares followed me until I served myself some of the leftover dinner, and I thanked the heavens for Seokjin for making sure there was always enough for everyone. 

“Bread's here,” my little brother said, pointing his toe towards the ground on his side of the fire. His hands were occupied, one with a bottle of beer and the other stroking lightly through Jimin’s hair. Concentration face not changing, Jimin reached for the plate and passed it to me.

“Thanks,” I mumbled as I sat down in front of the delicious glow of heat to devour my dinner. Luckily it was quiet, and I could eat in peace as quickly as I wanted. I preferred when the stew had been in the pot for a while: the carrots and potatoes were soft and the meat fell apart in my mouth. Not that I got to enjoy it for long as I polished it off in under a minute, nuch to the disgust of the husky giving me puppy-eyes from beside Jimin's legs. When I put my bowl down and shifted to relax in front of the fire, I noticed two sets of inquisitive eyes on me.

I had genuinely assumed that they didn’t care about what I’d gotten up to that morning, but clearly I was wrong. “What?” I asked, suddenly tense.

Jimin shook his head lightly, brows high as he looked down at the little half-shaped animal in his hand. “Nothing, I guess, if you don’t feel like talking… about… you know… whatever.”

Jungkook smirked and tipped his head down, eyes dropping to Jimin’s hair for a moment before he glanced back up at me, childish and cheeky. I squinted for a moment, for some reason not  _ quite _ as fretful about the whole topic of Hoseok when I was talking to them about it.

“Nosey, aren’t you?” I said, looking down at my fingers and fiddling nervously. 

“Well, gotta say I’m curious. He was mad as a march hare at you only a few days ago, and now he’s coming here and shutting himself inside with you.” He shrugged, smiling with light-hearted mischief. 

“And then, out of the blue,” Jungkook began, still grinning in the same way that was in equal parts annoying and infectious. “Seokjin decides we all need to immediately depart on a half-day hunting trip.”

Confused, my head tilted when I looked at him, eyes widening a little. “You all left?”

Jimin answered for him. “Yes, in quite a rush. Which made me wonder: what does Jin know that we don’t?” I wondered the same thing. “Anyway,” Jimin said, and as he went on his voice sounded unconvincing. “It’s your life, pal.”

“What Jimin means,” Jungkook began, patting Jimin's thigh, “-is we want to know what happened.”

Jimin waved a hand dismissively, though his grin was turning his eyes to crescents. “No, no, I really mean-” he started to say, and then he cackled at Jungkook digging his fingers into the elder's ribs. 

And then Taehyung was beside me, sitting himself on the rug with his legs crossed and a beer in his hand. “Are y'all discussing romantic developments without me?” He said in a scolding tone. “Unbelievable.”

“Believe me, there's no  _ romance _ ,” I assured him.

From the other side of the fire, Jimin mumbled, “yet…”

“ _ Something _ happened, though,” Taehyung said. “Right? I mean…” He leant back and forward, looking me up and down. “Doesn’t look like he roughed you up. But he sure had something on his mind when he went storming in there.”

“Yeah,” Jungkook said. “What was he so angry about?”

It was confronting to have them all in my face about this, but it was also thrilling and strangely validating. “I don’t know; he didn’t say.”

“What? Then what did-” Jungkook started saying, but Jimin cut him off with a slap to his thigh. 

“Quit yammerin’, how’s he supposed to explain?” It was endearing to see them still acting exactly the same as before.

“I think he was just checking if we were going to help out with Clementine’s suicide mission this weekend.”

Taehyung gave me a crooked look. “We didn’t all hightail it into the woods for him to ask you a ‘yes-or-no’ question, Yoongi.”

I gulped and looked at my fingers again, picking at dirt under my nails. “That’s what he said, but… I think he really came to blow off some steam.”

Taehyung’s head tipped back a little and his eyes stayed on me. “ _ Please _ tell me you mean…” The way I looked at him—embarrassed but smiling just a touch—answered his question. Suddenly he grinned and slapped my shoulder gleefully. “See, you didn’t have to sulk for the last three days; he still cares about you.”

I shrugged his hand away. “I’m not so sure coming to me for sex is a sign of his affection.”

Jungkook choked on his beer, turning away to splutter quietly. Taehyung suddenly turned his whole body to face me on the rug. I realised my mistake. “You mean it wasn’t just fooling around this time?”

I scratched my scalp, realising I’d backed into a corner on this one. “Uh... Shit.” It was too fresh not to affect me right away, the feel of him all over me, the images of him vivid in my mind. But the way they were all looking at me was so eagre, thirsty for anything I was willing to give them. Having fiercely avoided much of my posse’s conversation in the past, I found their interest a little confusing. I didn’t want any details of their relationships, but every one of them seemed intent on prying as much detail about mine out of me as possible. Not that I considered whatever was going on between Hoseok and me a ‘relationship.’ 

“You know, you get real sweaty when you talk about Hoseok,” Taehyung unashamedly pointed out, and I grimaced at him as he innocently sipped his beer. I bit my tongue so not to bring up how angsty he got when he talked about Seokjin. No point in being petty when I was already rattled.

“Taehyung!” Jimin snapped. “Stop interrupting!”

“Interrupting what,” I scoffed. “This isn’t a campfire story.” 

Jungkook caught my eyes with an almost sympathetic smirk. “I think you’re going to have to give us  _ something _ or Jimin will lose his mind.” His accent was always a little tidier when he was talking to me. 

I sighed and laid back against the closest log, and I kicked off my boots to warm my toes. “Well. You all saw him when he came in, right? Looking all wrathy. And he closed my tent up and I thought he was about to shoot me or something. So, worse than a cat in a room full of rockers I started yammering apologies, you know, because I thought he was angry with me about Mateo. But before he even said anything…” as I paused, waving my hands in front of me in emphasis, I noticed that it wasn’t just Jimin but the three of them watching me, enthralled. “He just started getting unshucked right in front of me. All but his shirt.” 

Jungkook’s hand came to his mouth, round eyes going wide like he was utterly scandalised. 

“And… from there it just escalated. He said he wasn’t mad at me. A-and…” I stopped as soon as I noticed that recalling it was making my voice shake.

Taehyung bumped my thigh with the empty bottle in his hand. “Hey. If it’s so uncomfortable, why have you  _ still _ not told him how you feel?”

“I can't,” I said, a little stronger than I meant to. 

“Well, the way I see it, you either learn to live with it the way it is, if that’s what you want, or you call it off, right?” I couldn't meet his eyes, too afraid I'd betray the anxiety I was feeling. “Or, if you decide you  _ can _ find the courage to speak yer mind…?” 

I shook my head. “What if it messes everything up? I mean, between Hoseok and all of us, not just me.” I glanced at Taehyung and then briefly across the fire at the others. 

“Like I said before, we’d cope, Yoongi. And you'd learn to cope too, whatever the outcome. Yer all sixes and sevens at the minute and it’s making you crazy. Believe me, I know the feeling.”

He had a point. He'd found the courage to tell Seokjin to his face that he was in love with him. I couldn't exactly go around knowing Taehyung was braver than I was. I sighed, motivated to at least try, but not exactly feeling encouraged. This time I would actually try, and not just let him distract me. I hoped. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Insert Author having feelings 

I made 2 gifs bc I couldn't choose so here's scenic evening campfire Yoongi and little Cody in the tent on the left!


	26. Heartstrings

Hullo!! Back with a cute Cody gif and some Jintae :D Plz make sure to read the previous Hogi update cos there's a slight spoiler for it in here ^^

~~~~~~~~~~

_Seokjin's POV_

  
  
  


Almost everything went back to normal between Taehyung and me in the first month. On the outside we managed to mend the rift and get back on speaking terms, even if he made a point of keeping a distance from me that he never kept before, physical and emotional. I was confused and a little confronted by that for a while. It felt like we'd never get back to that comfortable place. By the middle of the coldest part of winter, it changed again. Maybe not so much for him, but for me. I woke up one day really craving that closeness we’d strayed from. It made sense to feel lonely without his constant chatter and pestering when I'd been so used to it for over a year. But it felt different now because of one very important detail. 

He was in love with me. Or at least he had been; I didn't know for how long, or if he still felt that way now. Every time it crossed my mind I felt stuck, and it took weeks to stop feeling sick with guilt about saying nothing back when he confessed. It took until he smiled at me again. 

Suddenly wishing he'd treat me the same as before was probably selfish of me. I made sure not to let it show—not to get any closer to him than he was comfortable with or ask anything of him that would unfairly encourage him. But the craving was there, just lingering in the back of my mind while I went about my daily tasks. Luckily we were very busy making the most of the limited daylight, so by the time I made it to bed I was exhausted enough to sleep right away. 

One thing I was thankful for was that Taehyung did, very slowly, begin to warm up to me again before he was thrown in jail in Strawberry. Jimin and Yoongi had ridden hurriedly back to camp to report his arrest, and I didn’t hesitate before jumping onto Luna and racing into town. I couldn't believe they'd left him there alone. I panicked for the entire gallop, praying by some miracle that he was only in a little trouble, that they wouldn't find some petty excuse to rough him up or hang him before I could get there. 

When I charged into the station, I saw him straight away. My frantic heart skipped a beat and slowly began to calm its audible thudding. He was sitting with his head in his hands on the shelf that seemed to act as a bed, and he looked up disinterestedly at my entrance. As soon as he recognised me he leapt up, hands finding the bars as he called out to me in what was almost a sob. Someone beside me spoke, but I ignored him. In a few short strides I was against the bars, fingers finding his.

“Tae, thank God…” I breathed, comforted that at least he wasn’t so beaten and bruised that he couldn’t stand. His lip and eyebrow were split, and all around one eye was dark blue and purple already. I dread to think about how many more bruises he had. He clutched at me, frightened tears streaking his cheeks, making lines of blood and dirt down his jaw. 

“Please help me Jin; I’m scared. I didn’t do anything wrong!”

I nodded at him, believing him completely. “Don’t worry, Tae, I’m gonna do everything I can.”

He nodded back and sniffed, eyes desperate. I hadn’t seen him like this ever before, and it made my heart break a little. He wasn’t afraid of much—was reckless and downright idiotic sometimes—but if anyone had a right to be terrified of confinement, especially incarceration, it was Taehyung. I prayed that his name wouldn’t be recognised as an escaped prisoner, because that would surely mean the end for him. Clearly he knew it, too. At least that had been many years ago, and offices of the law across the country weren't particularly competent when it came to communication. 

I finally managed to pry myself from him to address the grumpy sheriff. He'd raised his voice to the point of almost yelling before he gave up, realising that I didn’t give a damn. When I turned to him he raised his brows patronisingly. "So you do speak English?"

I walked up to the desk behind which he sat and crossed my arms over my chest. I figured my disapproving glare would be lost on him, but it made me feel a tiny bit better. "On what grounds are you holdin’ my friend prisoner?" I asked. The man was a real piece of work. Sheriff Vernon Farley. He'd only been promoted after his predecessor Sheriff Hanley was murdered in a shoot-out quite recently. I never recalled Hanley being racist towards us. Neither did he have such horrendous, scraggly mutton chops. 

“Yer  _ friend _ was seen pickin’ a fight in town. Really hurt some fellers. So it’s a night in here and ten dollars for fightin’.”

“ _ Ten dollars _ ,” I repeated, managing by the skin of my teeth not to shriek. "Ten dollars should get him out right now!” 

“I’ll make it twenty if you don't hobble yer lip, boy. Git on home before I jail you too.”

I fumed. He wouldn’t even accept a bailout, so I decided I was staying here to keep an eye on Taehyung. I trusted that son-of-a-bitch sheriff as far as I could throw him. He and his deputies seemed irked that I took a seat by Tae's cell and stayed there. They told me they’d lock me in with him if I didn’t leave by sundown, so I spent the night in the cell as well. At least since I wasn’t under arrest they couldn’t take my guns. 

“You didn’t have to come,” Taehyung said, breaking the silence some time after the last deputy left. The moon was high, spilling two streaks of light across the floor from the windows. We sat back to back, propped up on each other on the cold, dirty floor. 

“How could I not?” I said, worrying that he was attempting to keep his emotional distance, as usual these days. “I was scared out of my mind that they’d string you up.”

He sighed. After a while longer he spoke again, voice soft and weary. “I’m… sorry I lost the plot a little back there. Being in here just… reminds me of detention.”

I shook my head gently. It was resting against his after all. “You’ve every right, Tae.”

“I’m real sorry to cost us money. I know we’re saving.”

“Don’t be. What’s all that money for if we can’t afford to protect ourselves anyway?” I wondered how Namjoon would feel about it. He couldn’t have been awfully concerned otherwise he’d be here with Taehyung as well. “I can’t believe Jimin and Yoongi left you here, though.”

He didn’t reply right away. “There wasn’t much they could do.”

“Still. Wouldn’t put it past those bastards to…” I stopped myself. There was no point in fretting about what could have happened. “Anyway. I’m really glad you’re okay, Tae.”

He shifted and winced, and I realised in all of my panic I’d forgotten to check him for injuries. I managed to control my reaction down to a simple, concerned question. “Any battle-scars from your fight today?”

“Just this,” he said, and I felt him twist and tilt his head down. I turned as well and watched as he moved his coat aside to reveal a bloody patch on his shirt. There was a small tear in his clothing, and I panicked right away. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were bleeding?” I scolded.

“I think it stopped. Not much we can do about it in here anyway,” he said with a frustrating lack of self-preservation. 

“Can I see it?” I asked, and I realised it was the first time I’d asked permission for anything like this. He turned a little, looking at me as though he hadn’t expected me to ask, either. I helped him carefully untuck his shirt from his trousers and peel it away from the sticky red. It wasn’t bad, and it had stopped bleeding. His coat had protected him from most of the damage his attacker had intended. I still wanted to clean and bandage it. 

“How bad is it, doc?” he asked sardonically. 

“You may just survive.” His soft, tired smile was refreshing. I did what I could with a strip of clean ish cloth I tore from his shirt, but a spitshine would have to do until we got back to camp. 

We didn't talk much more after that, and before I realised I'd drifted off to sleep, I woke up to the station door swinging open with a loud creak. It was hardly past dawn, and Sheriff Farley's spurs jingled as he sauntered inside and stood menacingly in front of the cell door. I blinked myself awake, noticing one by one the aches and chills all over my body. Taehyung shivered against me, our backs the only warm parts of us. I was amazed we'd managed to last the night upright, though from the ache in my shoulder, I was sure I'd leant against the bars somewhat. 

“If y’all got the cash to pay yer fine you can git out of my hair quick smart,” the lawman grumbled, elbows pointed and fists against his hips. We scrambled to our feet, still blinking awake, and I couldn't help but clutch my rifle close while we ducked out of the cell. Taehyung luckily had money in his saddlebag, because I wasn't carrying any. I made a mental note to remember it next time, since fines and bailouts sometimes wouldn’t wait for me to make a trip back to camp. 

Outside the station, I looked around for Luna. She wasn’t where I left her. Taehyung seemed to notice and pointed towards the post office. Frost was tethered there, no doubt from the day before, and my untethered horse had wandered down the road to be with her instead of by herself. It was slightly surprising, because Frost was an absolute bitch to Luna. But I figured they considered each other family in the same way the posse was family to me. 

We walked down the road side by side in silence and mounted our tired-looking horses. I wanted to be back at camp as soon as possible so I could untack poor Luna and give her a chance to eat and drink, and Taehyung seemed to feel the same. Luckily, we weren’t more than an hour’s ride away. 

Taehyung disappeared into his tent for a while, and regardless of how much I worried about his wound, his silence made me assume he didn’t want to be disturbed. I spent the afternoon skinning and carving a carcass, preparing food, taking a short nap to readjust my spine from sleeping in the cell, and then cleaning my rifle in front of the fire. Taehyung had been silent inside his tent all day, and I wondered if he spent most of it sleeping. He surfaced for dinner, but he didn’t eat with us. Finally worried enough to invade his personal space, I checked on him before going to sleep for the night. 

In front of his nightstand with a couple of half-melted candles for light, he inspected his wound in a small mirror, coat and shirt hanging over the back of his wooden chair, the top half of his underwear folded down over his trousers. He met my eyes in the reflection when I tapped on the timber frame to announce my entry.

“Thanks for the stew,” he said as he glanced back at the gash on the back of his hip. 

“Welcome. Can I uh… help you clean that?” 

“Thought you’d never ask,” he joked, and his gentle smile tugged at my heartstrings. I realised it a moment later; that the throb in my chest was just a little different. I wasn’t quite sure how, but it made me hypersensitive to everything he did. I went about my usual routine of tending to a wound, but the more I listened to his breath hitching in pain, and the more I touched his skin, the more my heart lit up in slow flames. I finished dressing and wrapping up his cut and let my fingers linger against him a little longer than necessary. I managed to tear myself away finally, shaken and confused. 

“Thanks,” he mumbled and wriggled back into his damaged and bloodstained clothing. I went straight to my tent to bed after that, desperate for the blissful ignorance of sleep, but I was disappointed. The evening trickled by with hours of confusion and insatiable wanting. But I wasn’t about to touch myself over this. I couldn’t have simply woken up this morning with this kind of uncalled for desire. 

Except that I had. And I did touch myself with his smile on my mind. And it was… different. It was confusing that I didn’t even have to think about anything indecent. Just him and the way he moved me, the way he’d always been the closest to me. His mischievous but gentle soul and fearless, passionate outlook on life. Guilt churned in my stomach from thinking about him while I did this, but it crossed my mind that he might have thought about me like this as well; almost definitely did. I was close, right on the edge, when I imagined that he was there, body over me, fingers replacing mine, lips ghosting over my cheek to my ear.

And when I came it was warm and heavy in my muscles and my heart; still confusing, still guilty. I swallowed the saliva pooled under my tongue and panted in time with my pulse. I fell asleep some time after the middle of the night, almost too exhausted to wake at dawn. Things seemed the same the next day for everyone but me. Because now there was that brief, vivid fantasy in my mind whenever I looked at Taehyung, and I struggled to keep it concealed. 

Another week of frosty mornings and snowy nights passed just the same. We hunted, made goods, and sold coats and meat for high prices that matched their demand. Namjoon helped the whole process, having lost his moonshine-brewing tools in the move. He did a rough job of sewing, but he could carve a carcass in half the time I could. That might have been because he did it with such intense focus, being in a rather despondent mood these days. I was always distracted by Jungkook’s endless chatter. That, at least, was a comfort, because he was filling a gap left by Taehyung. 

I hardly saw him, Yoongi, or Jimin these days. Bounties took them all across the country, and sometimes they were gone for days at a time. They came back with pockets full of cash, exhausted, and slept for a day or so before they would leave again. As the discomfort of thinking about Taehyung so indecently faded to just a memory, loneliness set in again. Whenever Jimin came home and Jungkook rushed into his embrace, I pretended to check Taehyung over for injuries, but really I was just longing, pining. Missing him the way he used to be with me. Wishing we could sit and talk or take a ride on the horses together like we used to. Wondering… if maybe he still felt the same way about me as he had when he confessed. 

He and Jimin rode into camp a little ahead of Yoongi one day, cheerful and not in any hurry to untack their horses or sleep having only been gone for a day, and Namjoon immediately questioned them.

“Back so soon?”

Jimin met our leader’s eyes to reply even as Jungkook trudged past him with a rolled elk pelt on his shoulder and pecked his lover on the cheek. “There weren’t any posters in Strawberry. We’ll have to check out Valentine tomorrow,” he said, but he turned mid-sentence at the unexpected yapping from his saddlebag.

Taehyung reached over to Citali’s right side and lifted a large puppy out of the saddlebag. Yoongi rode past us all as we moved to investigate the fluffball, and he dismounted and untacked Mateo in distracted, brooding silence. The elk pelt I’d carefully rolled up suddenly hit the dirt, and Jungkook all but squealed. The pup was not young, maybe six months old, and its massive paws and ears showed it had even more growing to do. A classic black and white Husky, it was definitely cute. Jungkook was in shocked, delighted tears as Taehyung placed it in his arms and it licked his face all over. Jimin couldn’t wipe the ear-to-ear grin off his face. 

I managed to sneak in a few pats on the pup’s soft head, smiling at it as though the joy it brought us was infectious. Through sniffing and uncontrollable sobbing, cooing, and giggling, Jungkook told the pup that its name was Cody. I caught Taehyung’s eyes on me when I went to leave, and it froze me for a second. He was smiling so genuinely, but he looked away almost as though to avoid my gaze, maybe make it seem like he hadn’t meant to be looking. That wasn’t unusual at all these days. But with everyone else so distracted, it gave me a moment of clarity; an opening to scope out whether or not he wanted my company. 

Once he was in control of himself again, Jungkook took the horses’ reins to go untack them, and I followed a second behind Taehyung as he sauntered to his tent. He turned just enough to see me over his shoulder as he folded the door back, and I stopped outside, just watching him in uncomfortable silence. “Can I help you?” he asked, just a hint of a smile in his voice, and I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. 

“How… was your trip?” I asked, slow, awkward, forced; unsure of how to be casual around him anymore.

“Cold,” he began, and he sat on his low, timber-frame bed and kicked his boots off. They flopped onto his bear pelt rug and I watched him wriggle his toes in his socks. “We went up to the Grizzlies and into that ‘Clementine’ lady’s camp.”

“Oh?” I asked, shocked not only at what he said but that he’d started up a conversation at all. He had that cheeky spark in his eyes that he got when he had something to tell me, and his lips tilted up in one corner just slightly. “I bet that was interesting.”

He nodded, looking in my eyes, and shuffled back to cross his legs on the bed and face me. If I wasn’t so in tune to him I would have missed the instant of hesitation, and the flash of hope in his eyes as he reached in front of himself and patted the bed. Thrilled, I had to stop myself from rushing to join him. 

He talked for a while, and it felt nostalgic and wonderful. I wanted his excited storytelling to last forever. He brushed over the last events of their trip, seeming to skip several aspects of Yoongi’s ‘lesson’ with Hoseok. He finished up after a little while, and silence slowly crept in around us. 

“Is that why Yoongi’s in a mood?” I asked, reasoning that maybe it was just me feeling unsettled by the silence. 

“Who knows,” Tae joked, but he seemed to want to veer away from that topic. The more important topic right now, if we were changing subjects, was… well,  _ us _ . 

And just as I raised the courage—took in a breath to speak—he beat me to it.

“I’m glad we’re talking again,” he said in such a low and careful way for him. 

"Me too," I said with a relieved smile, and for the first time in a while, it felt okay.

A few days passed, time moving less slowly while Taehyung and I were on good terms. It was almost like before. He approached me when I was working and hung around to chat, either telling me stories or making up things to converse about. The only difference was that he didn’t sit quite as close, and didn’t ask me for things in the way he did before. He always had a slightly entitled way of requesting that I spend time with him, make him food, or anything else he wanted. It had never bothered me much. Now, I missed it. 

When I asked if he wanted to come hunting with me, he didn’t hesitate before agreeing, at least. I packed a few things and tacked up Luna while he prepared his own mare and saddlebags. We both paused and glanced at each other as an unexpected guest on his tall draught horse came riding into camp, pointedly ignoring everyone as he stormed towards Yoongi's tent. 

Taehyung's brow quirked on one side as he continued tacking up. "Looks kinda high," he mumbled, and I blinked in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

He tightened Frost's girth, ignoring the way she pinned her ears back and swished her tail in protest. "I mean, he limps a little still, but when he's high, he walks normally."

I hadn't even noticed Hoseok's gait as he dismounted and disappeared into the tent. "Hmm. If he's high and also angry with Yoongi for the whole Mateo thing...?"

"I can't see the likes of Hoseok hurting Yoongi over something like that."

I agreed. Somewhat. I went to check, just in case. By the time I was within a few paces of Yoongi's tent, I happened to catch a glimpse through the crack in the canvas door, and I suddenly spun on my heel and snuck away. I was pretty confident that Hoseok's plan was not to hurt Yoongi, especially if it involved getting undressed. 

Boy, I was glad to be leaving camp for the afternoon. In fact…

"Hunting time, fellers," I called to Jimin and Jungkook, and by extension to Namjoon in his tent as well. They all emerged from whatever they'd been doing, questioning me. 

I leant close to Namjoon to whisper to him as he glared frustratedly at me. "Unless you'd rather stay here and listen to those two cowboys pirootin'."

He didn’t need any more convincing. 

We arrived back at camp in the evening with a great haul of game for this time of year. It was very convenient that we'd all gone together, because with so many horses we were able to bring back more carcasses than usual. Jungkook and I would have materials for over a week. 

That night before I headed to bed, I pushed my luck and peeked into Taehyung’s tent to say goodnight. He was sitting up on his bed fidgeting with loose strings on the edge of his blanket. At my entrance he stopped abruptly, surprise painting his features. 

"Sorry to interrupt," I joked, and he smiled. 

"Everything all right?"

Yeah, I just wanted to thank you for helping out with the hunting today." 

He grinned and patted his bed, so naturally, I went to sit. "I know why we  _ really _ hightailed it outta here."

I felt embarrassment threaten to colour my cheeks. "Ah… did Yoongi tell you?"

Taehyung nodded, a slightly mischievous grin on his lips and touching his eyes. I loved that grin. "He's got it bad for that horse thief."

"I think you're right."

And then there was silence. But it wasn't awkward so much as heavy; thick with words unspoken, at least for me. Taehyung didn't beat me to what I had to say this time, and I decided not to soften it at all. I had to be clear and honest.

“I missed you…” 

It hit him just like I expected, made his brows tilt up in the middle and his lips part a little, his expression somewhere in the fog between anticipation and fear. 

“I mean, I missed  _ this _ , you know? Talking about these things and… being friends.” I paused and watched unreadable emotions cross his features, and his eyes went from surprised to guarded, untrusting of something. Maybe I shouldn't have used the word 'friends.' I didn’t let his reaction discourage me, because I had my heart on my sleeve and he was too precious to keep this from. “I know it’s… different now, but-” I took a breath as a pause, reminding myself to stay confident and sure, because after leaving him hanging, he deserved as much. “I’m okay with different, with it changing. If that’s what you want.”

There was a war going on in his mind, plain in his rich brown eyes as he stared at me. I was quiet, albeit anxious for his response, letting him take as long as he needed.

In the softest whisper, he asked, "what're you saying?" And he looked so breakable. He looked like he did when he came to me crying about his uncle's death a few years ago. Tense in his neck and the set of his jaw, but shoulders slack like he had no strength left to fight what he was feeling. Like it was about to take over him. I had held him as long as he needed. Maybe that was what he needed now. But as I shifted carefully across the small distance between us, it was his lips I found. Palms either side of his jaw and fingers hidden in his hazelnut hair, I let him feel me there for a few moments, let the feeling of his soft lips wash over me. This was so right. It had to be. Harder than finding the strength to be so honest with him was pulling away to make sure he was coping okay, because he didn't really kiss back. 

Too shocked to speak or react much at all, he finally found his breath and sucked in enough air to fill his lungs. With his gaze on my lips, he panted gently, and a slightly trembling hand came to rest on mine on his jaw. 

He only needed those few tense seconds and then it was his turn to initiate it. Still soft and gentle but this time so eagre as well; eyes closed, breaths rushed, slick lips moving with mine in no particular rhythm. His hands moved to my forearms, fingers soft and cautious at first but tightening bit by bit as his kisses sped up. I shifted to sit comfortably close, pressed against him as much as I could, and held his face with all of the tenderness I felt. This must have felt right to him, too. 

It rapidly evolved from affectionate to passionate. His hurried breaths puffed against my cheek when he wasn’t sighing against my mouth. I grew a little impatient, only half aware that this was getting me excited. My hands were in his hair, not gentle in the way I pulled him against me just to feel more. His throaty whine proved that he had no complaints at all. 

Absorbed in his taste and his palpable desperation, it took me some time to notice a damp feeling on my cheeks and a salty tinge on my tongue. Even muddled by adoring and somewhat lustful thoughts, I recognised what it must have been and pulled back just enough to check if I was right. He tried to follow, eyes opening just a touch, but I saw the streaks down his cheeks, the droplets on his eyelashes that betrayed how well he was coping. 

"Tae," I said gently, heart surging at the sight, and he kissed me again, taking advantage of how weak he made me feel. I let him, but it ached. For a while longer I kissed him softly, but I had to stop when the tears wouldn't slow. "Please," I begged breathlessly, forehead against his. "Stop me if you don't want this."

"I do," he whispered, voice not strong enough for any more than that.

"Then why are you crying?" I asked, moving my hands to wipe at his cheeks. But it had the opposite effect to that I intended, and he sniffed as more tears fell in their place. It finally touched his eyes—the confusing sadness he was trying to hide—and my heart broke watching him hold back sobs. "Let's just talk a while, all right?" I offered, moving to sit beside him, and we laid down on his small mattress side by side. 

He controlled himself well, able to contain his sobs until he could breathe evenly again. We laid like that for over an hour, just swapping affections, fingers laced together, discussing this; us. He told me he'd fallen for me the moment we'd met, and that this was just a little overwhelming. I told him I was falling now. As he fell asleep in my arms I let myself believe that everything was going to be okay.

~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


I thought I was dreaming when a soft touch swept slowly across my chest and down my woolen sweater; thought the warm fingers slipping between my buttons to stroke at my skin were all in my head. But it was so vivid, even the sound of his arm moving under my thick blankets. I stirred awake, turning my head towards the radiating warmth beside me and touched my nose to fluffy hair. Taehyung tipped his head up gently and found my lips in the dark. His candle must have burnt out, and the moonlight didn’t touch us. I inhaled sleepily, pleasantly surprised at waking up to unexpected affection. He was huddled close against my side—not that there was much room for any other position on his bed—and I noticed his efforts at unbuttoning my underwear had spread from my navel to my neck.

My instinct was to ask if he was really ready for any of this, to stop him now before he took it too far. Maybe I wasn’t sure if I was ready, either. But the more he pulled at and removed my clothing under the covers, the more alert and focused I became. While there was nothing about baring my body in his presence that made me shy, having him undress us both with his hungry mouth hardly leaving mine was a startlingly new and daunting experience. So much more exposed even though he couldn't see me, I shivered at his hand sliding down my bare hip and back up.

The most novel part of all was desperately wanting everything he gave me. Every kiss made me lust for more, and every part of me he touched ached to feel him there for longer. I wanted to make him feel good, but I couldn't focus on where and how to touch him when my mind was swimming from everything he did. 

Cold air seeped across my shoulders as Taehyung moved on top of me, and I pulled the covers up to stop them slipping and keep us warm. He didn't seem to feel the chill, bare leg sliding across mine until he was carefully over me. I pretended I wasn't fixated on his cock against my belly and kissed him harder, brows pinching from the sudden rush of blood to my groin. Like nothing else in the world, he made me want him, just him in any way he'd let me, and luckily for me he had no intention of making me wait. 

Kissing took a back-seat with his hips grinding down on mine. It didn't even cross my mind to keep quiet. Seeing almost nothing but the blurry shape of him, I moaned against his lips. Lightning shot up my spine from the friction and the soft mewls he let out while he rocked back and forth. His agenda was clearly to drive me insane with need. Hot hurried breaths fanned down my neck. He must have realised how aroused he made me. 

"This okay?" He panted, and I had to run his words thrice through my head to understand.

"Yeah," I breathed back, and wondered if I was giving off the sense that it wasn’t. Ensuring it was clear I added a soft but sure whisper: "I want you."

He sighed, only half done when he mashed his mouth against mine and moaned the rest of his breath. "Want you too," he mumbled around my lips, voice hoarse and deep and dripping with lust. My hands found his sides and lingered there. I wanted to touch all of him at once. His warm skin was so smooth and addictive under my palms, and as his hips rolled against me again I slid my touch to his behind and gently squeezed the flesh of his cheeks. His pleasured whine was almost as alluring as the feel of him under my fingers and on my crotch and wet against my lips all at once. 

With one arm holding him up beside my head, he snaked his other down between our bodies. Neither of us could focus on kissing with his fingers exploring my hip bones and the hair below my navel. I wished he wouldn't hesitate; craved his hand wrapped around me where he hadn't dared go yet. I tipped my hips up just a little for more friction and pulled him against me, still subconsciously fondling his cheeks. 

" _ Ah _ ," he moaned, between surprised and pleased, thighs spreading as he pushed down against me in response. His fingers still danced around that one place, and it was obvious he wanted to go there. "Can I?" He asked finally, and I almost rushed to tell him ' _ yes _ .' 

When he did it was a little too gentle at first, cautious with every right to be so, and I encouraged him with delighted sounds and gentle hip rolls. He alternated between stroking my cock and kissing my lips and grinding himself down on me for a little shared friction. It was not quite enough but almost too much at once. All of it was new and thrilling—the affection, the touching, the frantic primal need—and it had me trembling and panting and wanting more. I wanted his mouth on me harder; the deepest kiss possible. Wanted his hips grinding against mine until we were both coming undone. I wanted to be inside him, feel him hot and tight around me and watch his body respond. 

I moved my hands down his thighs and back up, across the strong muscles of his back, over his shoulders and down his arms then back up into his hair. It was beyond anything I could imagine, touching him and feeling him react, mapping his body in my mind and committing to memory the places that made him gasp or tremble. For me, that was the most important part about this; the connection that I made with him as we fell apart in each other's arms. Not that his muscles were delightful under my fingers, or that his lips were smooth and sweet, or that he touched me just right and sounded so addictive when he moaned. But that it was him I was touching, learning about, pleasuring and getting pleasure from. I couldn't have felt comfortable with anybody else. 

And when it was over, I knew it was really only the beginning. 

~~~~~~~~~~

  
  
  
  
:D :D :D


	27. Memento mori

~~~~~~~~~~~

_ Chapter Glossary: _

****Anyfolk:** ** anybody/anyone

****Oughta:** ** (ought to) better/may as well

****Slick heels:** ** without spurs (when riding a horse)

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~

_ Yoongi's POV _

  
  


In the first golden rays of that chilly Saturday morning, Mateo was comfortably resting in his yard when I brought his saddle to hang on the gate. He pointed his fluffy brown ears at me, vapour swirling outwards from his nostrils with his exhale. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Remember everything Hoseok said; calm rider, calm horse. The stallion didn't move as I tacked him up, a little tense in his neck, wrinkles above his nostrils that I never would have noticed until Hoseok explained to me what it meant. He relaxed a little when I gave him a scratch and told him he was a good boy. Another deep breath. I was going to fix my riding for him if it was the last thing I did. 

With Taehyung and Seokjin leading their horses to the outskirts of camp, bags packed and coats and hats on, I figured we were ready to depart. Namjoon was sulking by the fire, and Jungkook and Jimin were whispering in their tent still. I mounted up beside Frost and we began our long journey east. 

The trip to Rhodes was never eventful. You could cross The Heartlands in half a day and dip into Scarlett Meadows of the state of Lemoyne, cross Dewberry Creek and then you were just a few hours from the dusty little town. At a good, steady canter, our horses would make the trip in under a day. It was a bit of a push for Seokjin's older mare, but we made it to the outskirts by nightfall and set our horses up in the stables. It was always a risk riding into town when we could have been recognised as outlaws, but luckily we didn't turn any heads this time. At the end of the dusty red main street, we turned off the road towards Rhodes Parlour House, the only saloon in town. Quite a fancy establishment for such a town, it didn't take an expert to figure out that it was owned by one of the high society families of the region. Like the sheriff station, the saloon was run by the Grays, which gained it special attention from the rival Braithwaites. I wondered if it would be better for us to steer clear in case this caused problems for us, but the thought of a hot bath and a soft bed outweighed my concerns. 

After an evening of drinking with Taehyung and Seokjin, I concluded that there had been some romantic development that I didn't want to know about but assumed Taehyung would tell me about soon anyway. They hadn't been this comfortable around each other in months. At least it meant they were content chatting amongst themselves and leaving me to drink in peace. I needed all of my social energy for tomorrow. 

Sleep seemed only moments away when I collapsed into bed, a room to myself and a clean set of underwear soft on my freshly washed skin. But alone in the darkness—even drunk—my thoughts kept my brain too active for sleep. I forcefully conjured things to think about so not to let my mind linger where it wanted; on Hoseok, on sex, on being helplessly in love with him. I thought about how my journey here went with Mateo, and what I would do differently tomorrow. I thought of restocking my ammunition and gun oil and browsing the gunsmith while I was in town. I thought of Fitzgibbons and her gang and who would arrive tomorrow to lead the charge. And as always, my mind dragged me back to Hoseok. What little sleep I got was filled with dreams of a world in which we were together.

Which led to a morning of anxious discomfort, thick with foreboding about how I would feel when I saw him. Taehyung—emerging late in the morning to approach me at a table where I sat for breakfast—jumped when his greeting pat on my shoulder spooked me. 

"Whoa, rough sleep?" He asked, looking mildly concerned as he pulled up a chair across from me. 

"No," I said, gently pushing my plate away a little, but I knew it was unconvincing. So I corrected myself with a sigh. "Yes." He was annoyingly in tune with my emotions, and I was increasingly incapable of refusing conversation. 

"You're gonna tell him today."

I squinted at the table where my eyes already lingered, and then flicked my eyes up to meet his. "What?"

Taehyung leant on his arms on the old, dirty timber, looking at me matter-of-factly. "You're gonna tell the fella that's keepin' you up at night that he's keepin' you up at night."

And despite how unsettled I felt about it, it could only get better if I did; his pushing was characteristic of him and ultimately a sign that he cared. So I reined in my annoyed reaction and simply huffed, sinking deeper in my seat. 

He had something else to add, and smirked as he did. "So that he can keep you up at night in a good way instead." 

I blushed furiously. "Thanks for the talk," I grumbled as I rose to leave. His attention turned to Seokjin as the elder wandered over with a greeting, but I was long gone by then, needing to be with my horse for a while. 

I spent an hour in Mateo's stall, only stroking or scratching him when he approached me, and just leaning quietly against the wall when he wandered away to chew on his hay. He was completely relaxed, and it helped me find my own emotional baseline. I was a little proud of myself for working on my horse and my riding, and his casual, calm behaviours were infectious. He didn't mind that I was there with him, even came up to me for a scratch occasionally. That was encouraging and gratifying. 

Spooked again when there was a knock on the stall door, I found myself sitting in the straw, my stallion's head turned to look towards the sound. To my surprise it was Hoseok, his brow cocked with amusement as he peered down at me, arms resting on the iron stable bars. I stood and dusted myself off, fumbling over a greeting. 

"You discovered the secret to horse training," he said, his smile turning more genuine as he glanced at Mateo. "He looks happy."

"Thanks to you," I said, straightening my gunbelt and taking a step towards the gate to let myself out. 

"Well, as good as it is to see, I've got a proposal for you," he said, backing up a few stalls to glance inside. I followed him, covering up my discomfort by avoiding his gaze, and left a few feet between us when I looked inside the stable. "This is Handsome. He's an eleven-year-old Missouri Fox Trotter, and I want you to ride him." 

The horse inside was a striking combination of white patches with silver dapple, and his long mane was an unusual characteristic. He looked much too pampered to be a working horse. In an oddly affectionate way, I compared that particular trait to Hoseok. 

The rustler stood in a characteristic pose for him, though I hadn't seen him stand that way since before he was injured; hip cocked confidently and a pretty, slender hand resting just above it, chest out a touch, back curved and arse delightfully round. I wrestled with untimely arousal at the sight of him. His spotless, eccentric outfit and sparkly, dangling silver jewelry made him look like a prince. I tore my eyes away the moment he caught me staring.

"He sure is handsome," I commented, looking at the horse again as an attempt to help calm myself. I wished I could find my baseline again, but my heart was hammering. I knew I had to do something about the way he made me feel, and this ridiculous panic he caused was just another reminder. 

Realistically, step one was to clarify to Hoseok that I felt such a way about him that I neither wanted to stop fooling around with him nor continue in the current casual way. I needed, I thought with modicum of panic, to tell him I was in love with him. But how on earth I would force myself to get those words out of my mouth, I wasn't yet sure. 

However, like Taehyung said, I was going to tell him. Today.

Now.

"Hoseok, I-" I began, and he looked at me expectantly, so casual. As though he couldn't see the blush that had slowly coloured my whole face red. As though he hadn't fucked me just a few days ago. As though he had absolutely no inclination of what I was about to confess. It was terrifying. "I can't… I mean, I don't- uh…"  _ Christ _ , why was talking so hard? I knew it would be like this, but now that I had started, I couldn't exactly stop. 

"Is this about the other day?" Hoseok suddenly asked, cautious but direct. 

I gaped a little, lost for how to answer for a moment. "Sort of," I began, planning to explain, but he went on instead.

"I get it if it was too much; just say the words and I'll stop, no big deal."

It was a very, very big deal to me, but it got more stressful to think about as it became clear that he was so uncaring about the issue. He could just end it now. It wouldn't mean anything. I didn't know how to explain what was begging to burst from me. Not without baring my soul in a way I wasn't yet prepared to. 

"Look," he began again, clearly becoming impatient with my inability to explain myself. "I'm just offering a horse for you to practice on while I work on Mateo for a while, if that's what you want."

"I want-" I began, then paused sharply, throat thick with frustration and panic. "You."

His brow furrowed just a touch, and I took a breath before explaining, hoping it would help keep my voice level. He looked puzzled and equally amused, another sign that this was not quite serious to him. "I'm awful fond of you, I mean. And I wanted you to know."

Suddenly it wasn't just a lonely cowboy's horny begging, but a genuine confession. The furrow in his brow deepened then, humor disappearing as his eyes dropped from mine, and he only glanced back up at me for a split second before pointedly averting his gaze. A part of me had expected this uncomfortable outcome, but it ripped through me as I watched him grasp for a way to escape my sincerity. His mouth opened for a moment as though to speak, and a second later he took in a sharp breath. "This," he began, waving his hands between us. "Was  _ not _ meant to mean anything, I'm sorry if I…" he trailed off, somewhere between flustered and panicked. "I-... have to go."

And as he rushed away I tried not to let it crush me. 

I hadn't noticed until then that Taehyung was waiting a few paces behind where Hoseok had been, standing with his hands together in a praying position, index fingers against his lips. He eyed me and dropped his hands, pouting slightly for a second but with a characteristically nonchalant expression. 

"That went well," he teased, and I turned to smack my forehead against the bars. He caught my hat before it hit the ground and placed it on his own head.

"Give that back," I groaned, shooting him an annoyed glance before turning my eyes back towards the appropriately named 'Handsome.' The stallion was right against the bars, seeming to beg for a scratch. 

"I'll give it back when I see you two having a proper conversation," he said as he turned and sauntered away. I tried to ignore him, but unfortunately heard when he shouted behind himself "we'll be at the gunsmith!"

Desperate to distract myself, I spent some time getting acquainted with Handsome before heading to the general store and then the gunsmith afterwards. Goods were expensive here, but cheaper than Saint Denis. I wasn't surprised to hear harsh words about the prices from a small gathering of women seated or stood on the gunsmith porch. From their practical clothing and substantial weaponry, I made an educated guess as to who they were, and I think they did the same with us, sparing a long, silent look as we passed. Clementine and Hoseok were nowhere in sight, however. 

"Are y'all Hoseok's friends?" One of them asked, just as I was about to walk away. I stopped on the top step, turning slightly to look at her over my shoulder. 

"That'd be us," I confirmed, and she put on a more welcoming expression as she outstretched her hand. 

"Name's Mandy," she introduced. "Pleasure to meet'cha."

'Yoongi," I said, heading back along the porch to shake her hand. "And the pleasure's all ours. This is Taehyung and Seokjin."

She nodded at my companions with a friendly smile. She looked about my age with blue eyes, blonde wavy hair, and freckled skin. "This is Rosa, Kimberly, and Trisha. Y'all were up at the camp the other day, weren't'cha?" 

I nodded, moving my hands to my hips and resting a leg to attempt to look casual. Talking to people had been easier when I wasn't so confused and full of doubt; before Hoseok made me into a mess. "That's right."

"Here to help us with a little unfinished business, then, huh?" She asked with a smirk, and I switched my balance to my other leg. 

"We sure are; do you have any idea when we plan to get started?" 

Mandy hummed in thought and glanced down at the watch on her cracked leather gunbelt. "In around an hour we'll meet for a meal at the saloon, and I think we're convening after."

"Okay, thanks," I said with a smile, and after a few awkward pleasantries we left. 

Thankfully I wasn't bothered by anyone on the walk back to my room, and I had headspace to think about what happens next; how I go about making something out of this clusterfuck. Clearly he didn't feel the same way that I did, if he understood my feelings at all from my pathetic attempt to explain them, and I hated to leave it on an uncomfortable note.

"Fuck," I said out loud to myself while I worked leather cleaning cream into my holister. "Damn tarnal hell." 

"Is this a bad time?" Seokjin asked from the door he'd managed to open near silently, the third person to spook me just this morning. 

"Blazes, Seokjin, you dratted mouse; can't you knock?"

"You have a mouth like the latrine today."

I frowned down at the task at hand instead of responding. 

"Look, I hate to be the one who gets between you and a good shoot-out, but I can't help noticing yer not yerself today. Or yesterday." He leant on the side of the table at which I sat, arms crossed. 

"I'll be fine."

"Yoongi, listen, if it's the last time you ever do. Tonight will be dangerous. You need to be in a good headspace. If yer all sixes and sevens, you may as well stay out of the way."

I put on a fake smile and pointed it at him for as long as absolutely necessary. "I said I'll be fine." 

He threw his hands up with defeat as he turned to go. "Suit yerself."

Maybe he had a point, I mused, finishing my leather-cleaning with a perpetual frown. But it didn't matter. I was invested in too many parts of this mission to sit it out. The pay, firstly. Not to mention that Seokjin was not much of a gunsman, and would need my support. I also desperately wanted to see what Clementine had up her sleeve; what made her so untouchable? And of course, I'd never have stayed behind when I knew Hoseok was going to be in potential danger. Even if he never wanted to speak to me again, there was nothing I could do about the way I felt. 

After a light lunch—awkwardly hiding behind Taehyung at the bar while the Fitzgibbons gang chatted at the tables nearby—we joined the convergence just outside of town on horseback. Now we were turning heads, Rhodes townsfolk wondering what our odd bunch were gathered for. Hoseok, atop the fancy Fox Trotter named Handsome, approached me and dismounted. Reminded that we intended to swap horses—but confused as to why it still mattered after he'd rejected me just an hour ago—I gave Mateo a small scratch on his neck and then swung out of his saddle. Hoseok's expression was a little careful when he met my eyes, only enough that I was sure nobody else would have noticed. He had been smiling wider at me before I made a mess of confessing this morning, more carefree. I tried to stop thinking about it when he began explaining how to ride the new horse.

Speaking quietly so not to distract those who were listening to Clementine, he tightened Handsome's brown leather girth as though simply finding something to busy his hands. "Now, gentle squeeze with yer legs to ask for speed and sit back to ask for slow. I wouldn't jab his mouth or his belly; don't say I didn't warn you. He's good with voice too, just ask for a bit more and he should be right with you." Hoseok met my eyes briefly to see me nod, and then he was swinging up on Mateo's saddle with ease. It seemed this was just another one of those things he could brush off and move on from. How I wished I could share just a touch of his insouciance. 

I fiddled with the reins in my hands, not used to this style, and tested a few left and right turns as well as backing up. Handsome was quick to respond, ears flicking back and forth as he listened to me and the world around him, and one small bump from my slick heels made him grunt and toss his head. I made sure not to do that again. Despite his sweet face and soft eyes, Handsome felt like a volatile beast underneath me. I would need to be careful, which I was sure was exactly Hoseok's intention. While I practiced soft cues and lightness, Hoseok would teach my horse to respond. 

Luckily we didn't stick around long, and without many words we were following Clementine and her massive white shire horse at a steady canter south. 

Late into the afternoon by then, we gathered in the thick, humid forest and tethered our horses in small groups to keep each other company. I hadn't been paying much attention, but I deduced that we were following Clementine’s lead. By the time I tuned in, the group of ten, including the three of us, was dispersing to rest on fallen logs or crouch in the damp leaf litter. Lemoyne was such a different landscape to where I'd spent most of winter, the earth a rich ochre and the grass yellowy-green. It hardly snowed here, more likely to summon humid thunderstorms even through winter. The woods teemed with wildlife, more active here than in the north. I never longed for humidity, but it was a relief to feel warm for once in many months.

As the sun set, winter reminded us she was not quite gone, and all of the afternoon's moist air was replaced with a deep chill. I reached for my coat, rolled up behind Mateo's saddle. Shrugging it on, I turned away and collided full-force with an equally unsuspecting Hoseok. We staggered for a second before he chuckled and steadied me, arms on my shoulders. 

"Didn't notice you there," I rushed to apologise, flustered at having him so close, especially smiling like he was, all sweetly amused, and smelling like he did, sweat and leather and a touch of whiskey from earlier, and looking… well, looking like himself. 

"S'alright," he said, stepping around me then to duck under Mateo's neck and rummage through Handsome's saddle bags.

His nonchalance was a ruse, I noticed; one put up to protect himself. I knew from his gentle expression, vastly different to his usual exaggerated glee. When I looked at him I couldn’t see him as an acquaintance anymore; just a man with whom we did casual business. No, now... I saw the stars reflected in his eyes when he gazed at the night sky, and the dark waves of hair soft against his temples. I saw the way his smile, even the tiniest grin, lit up everything and everyone around him. I saw his confident flamboyance when he was happy and his discomfort when he was troubled. I saw how he loved human contact in a way I’d never understand, but it made me feel warm anyway. I saw him in slow motion sometimes, completely lost in how much I adored everything about him. And I saw the way his eyes brushed past me whenever they should have met mine, as though he’d have to force it to look right at me. It felt like a knife twisting in my gut. 

I walked awkwardly back to where I'd been sitting with Taehyung and Seokjin, but they didn’t notice much apart from each other. At some point I wrestled my hat back , and Taehyung's chuckling turned heads. I locked eyes with a woman who I remembered as Trisha, swivelling in her seat to look at me, and she smiled as she turned back around to face the ladies with which she was sitting. They all grinned or laughed in synch. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what they were whispering about. 

By nightfall, Cia had gone around to all of the little groups we had separated ourselves into and given us a play-by-play of the plan. There was a definite rotation of guards that would be easy to bypass with silent takedowns, and by a certain time everyone in the house—or mansion—should be asleep. 

"Your job will be to sneak in first and clear out the bottom floor," she said, looking at each of us. "That way nobody escapes without getting past us."

"What's your job," Taehyung asked, seeming genuinely curious. 

"To stay here and watch the horses," Cia said curtly. 

From behind where Cia was crouched Clementine approached, long, slim legs clad in black breeches that hugged all the way to her waist, a feminine blouse with a large square neckline exposing much of her chest. With pistols in expensive leather holsters at her sides and her bright red locks in a braid down her back, she looked as startlingly confident as always. 

"Cia's too cute to fight," Clementine said, long, feminine fingers brushing back a dark stand of hair from Cia's temple. Cia's brow quirked as her eyes dropped to the soil. Their interaction stank of heavy power dynamics that I hoped was based on affection and not something more sinister. "You three happy with this plan? Anything to suggest?"

"Send one of yours with us," I said, not a suggestion so much as a request. "Three isn't enough for the size of that house."

"And you don't entirely trust me," she said with a grin. "Not a problem, cowboy. It's you three and Mandy makes four. I don't plan to kill anyfolk in their sleep, so we oughta wake 'em before we head upstairs. Signal us with a shot through a window when the coast is clear."

She was mighty confident that her plan would succeed, assuming no shots would be fired until we planned it. 

"And what of the serving folk and youngsters?" Seokjin asked, his tone even despite the weight in his question. 

Clementine tilted her head, looking from me to him. "Anyone who surrenders can live as far as I'm concerned. My sights are set on Catherine and her three musketeers." Seokjin glanced at Taehyung, seeming at least to accept that for now. "Chances are there will be idiots making martyrs of themselves the moment I put an end to that sad sap's life anyway. Anyfolk shootin' at us has it coming."

I usually agreed with that sentiment, despite Seokjin and Namjoon's frequent complaints about the innocent people we killed. As far as I'm concerned, the second you point your loaded weapon towards me, you're no longer innocent. 

There were a few pistols to clean, some saddles to tighten on resting horses to be ready for a quick departure, but the main thing we waited for was the moon to be high in the sky. I felt focused, more than I had in a while, and just excited enough about the impending danger that I was in a good place to start this mission. Seokjin's lack of faith had been misplaced. When the time finally came to sneak our way through the tobacco fields, bandannas over our faces to hide our identities, I was completely in the zone. With Taehyung and Seokjin at my flanks, I felt refreshingly invincible. 

The towering Greek Revival mansion, bordered by well-maintained hedges and old oak trees, was completely in darkness aside from dim white moonlight. Like Cia had been when she tackled me all those months ago, these women were silent as cats, executing perfect takedowns of the Braithewaite cronies patrolling the plantation. We didn't have long before the door guards would notice the absence of the usual patrols, so it was up to us to take them out and get inside before they alerted the whole household. I couldn't sneak as quietly, but I had a good arm with a dagger. With little more than a look at Seokjin—whom I trusted with a knife a lot more than Taehyung—I positioned him with a clear shot at the guard on the left before moving to where I could hit the one on the right. He watched for my silent signal, and in perfect synch we tossed our blades and made our marks, his in the heart and mine in the eye. Seokjin spared me a disapproving grimace, obvious even through his mask, at which I smirked and beckoned for him and Taehyung to follow me inside. We took back our blades as we passed the slumped over bodies, and crouched in the shadows while testing the front door to see if it was locked. I couldn’t see the gang hidden amongst the plantation at all, which was slightly eerie, but I put it out of my mind as our fourth companion crouch-walked up the stairs to wait beside Taehyung.

The door was locked, so a few moments passed while I jimmied it open. Taehyung reminded me he could have done it more quickly and quietly, and I hushed him as we slipped inside. 

Only slightly less grand with no lights lit, the interior was straight out of a storybook, beyond my imagination of wealth in every detail. As we crept around, peeking into rooms with agonisingly creaky doors, we encountered a butler and two maids. Terrified, they surrendered silently and left the house without a peep. After giving the ground floor a second sweep, I met the other three's gazes to prepare them. 

Dreading the potential for this all to go wrong, I mumbled through my mask: " _ Memento mori. _ " I pointed my revolver at an east-facing window, and with the shot came a shatter that felt louder after hours of quiet. As expected, there was immediately shuffling upstairs, and within seconds Clementine had busted inside, Rosa and Trisha at her flanks, and she made for the stairs with pistols in her hands and purpose in her step. We took the other staircase, moonlight shedding it's glow on a nature scene made from the wallpaper, and it felt like a shame to spill blood in such a house. Not enough to stop me, however. There were guards upstairs, which I hadn't expected, but by the time we made it onto the first floor, they had been dealt with. Bursting from the bedrooms in longjohns and wielding shotguns, the Braithewaite brothers didn't stand a chance against Clementine and her girls' quick draws; dead before they hit the floor. 

Closer to the master bedroom, the dark figure of Bartholomew Braithewaite faced us threateningly, thick dark hair and moustache dishevelled. He didn't look away when the screaming started, women noticing the bodies in the hall, and he raised a flashy golden pistol quick enough to kill if I hadn't been prepared. I shot his hand, careful not to kill him after Clementine's authoritative shout of " _ that one's mine, Cowboy. _ " Bartholomew fell back, pistol clanking heavily against the rug and then the hardwood floor beside it, and Taehyung kicked it away, his revolver pointed at the Braithewaite. 

"Who are you?" He demanded, fury overpowering his pain even as he clutched at his bleeding hand. 

Making him turn and see, Clementine pulled down her bandanna and introduced herself as she sauntered towards him, carelessly pistol-whipping the young woman who lunged at her from a nearby bedroom. Held in a headlock by Rosa, an older woman cried out, infuriated and afraid, but all she could do was struggle and curse. 

" _ You _ ," Bartholomew growled, standing up straighter as though there was anything he could do other than insult her, which he did for the few steps it took her to reach him with her blade. Her first stab was low in his gut, a viciously pointless action that she took her time following up with a stab in his chest, looking in his eyes with a complete lack of empathy. She shoved him off her knife as he died and stepped over his body to deal with the woman who I realised must be his mother. 

With an even filthier mouth than Seokjin had accused me of earlier, she cussed us all out, slung racial and sexist slurs around like the slaver she had been in her prime, and Clementine seemed to take great pleasure in slitting her throat unnecessarily slowly.

It felt a little like it was all over as we took a calming breath, but stomping up the stairs behind Seokjin alerted us to others. He was quick to respond and met the new attacker at the bend of the staircase to kick them back down. The fall must have knocked them out cold or killed them because he came back up again with a thumb raised, and I smirked for a second before noticing the kerfuffle at the other end of the hall. 

I could just see about three men, struggling in the close-quarters of the hall and staircase, grappling with Rosa and another girl I didn't know. We surged forward to help if at all possible, though there were too many bodies to get past. Amidst the sounds of fighting I heard tell-tale sheathing of a knife into flesh, and one body tumbled down the stairs, luckily not one of ours. I was distracted when more footsteps rushed up the stairs from behind us again, and I panicked to see Hoseok there, pistol in his gloved hand and determination in his eyes as he made it into the hall. 

"Clem, we got trouble in the field," he warned, and my stomach flipped at the sight of an aggressive stranger sneaking up the stairs behind him. He ducked just in time, their heavy boots giving them away, and a rough swing of a rowing oar narrowly missed his head. Behind him was a young man, possibly one of the Braithwaite youngsters Seokjin had been talking about if his thick brown hair and panicked expression was anything to go by. Hoseok disarmed him and knocked him out with the oar just as I sprinted to help, and I was right in assuming the kid hadn't come without backup. 

From down the stairs a party of aggressive youth who looked like field workers or stable boys charged towards us, sharp and heavy tools ready to drive us back. 

"Is this the trouble you were talking about?" I asked Hoseok as we turned to escape in the other direction. 

"No, I meant the law!" He shouted back.

"Fantastic."

At the adjacent staircase we followed the others down to the ground floor, and it seemed there was a mutual agreement that the mention of 'the law' was enough to create an urgent desire to escape. Rather than spilling more blood, we fled at speed through the tobacco fields losing our pursuers easily since they didn't have firearms, and they likely only wanted us gone, anyway. 

"Imagine coming to the defence of those scumbags!" Rosa shouted as we made it over the fence and into the forest where our horses waited. I instinctively leapt up onto Mateo to leave, and I looked around as I gathered his reins to make sure Hoseok found his way to his horse as well. When he was completely mounted I let Mateo follow the herd that were already galloping away. 

It was only seconds before the law caught up with us, and bullets whizzed past my head menacingly. Their shouts demanded pointlessly that we stop, announced themselves as the police as though that would bring out our inner law abiding citizens. We galloped on.

Someone ahead took it upon themselves to create a diversion in the form of a Molotov cocktail thrown into the plantation. The horses spooked and attempted to veer away from the flames, but they complied when we steered them instead towards the blaze. Mateo and Handsome were last to leap the white timber fence back into the Braithwaite property. We split up through the rows of scorching bushes, the heat and smoke so suffocating already. 

On the other side of the property I didn't see many others emerge—maybe Mateo had carried me out ahead of the pack—so I made a quick decision to follow the only rider I noticed: Clementine on her tall white beast. Her shire horse was covering a lot of ground for a coldblood, but his speed was no challenge for Mateo to catch up to. My stressed little stallion hurried to be by the taller horse's side and Clementine gave me one of her characteristic wicked smiles for a brief moment as we picked our way north towards Bayou Nwa. 

I worried a little for those who didn't follow close behind, but at the shire's pace some of the faster horses caught up eventually, and my worry subsided when I glanced back to see Seokjin and Hoseok following finally. Hopefully Taehyung wasn't far behind, either; he was the last of us who could afford to be captured by the law. 

Absolutely ragged by the time Clementine directed us to slow, we pulled up in a cool but humid bog just north of the first crossing over the Kamasa River. Our horses' panting was as loud as the crickets in the trees. Clementine did a headcount, right hand absently on a pistol in its holster as her left hand pointed to each of her girls. 

"Cia," she said with vague urgency. "Where is Cia?" 

"They were with us, Clem," Mandy said, her thoroughbred looking ready to go for another gallop already. "Can't be far behind."

"They?" Seokjin asked with hope in his voice. 

"Yeah," she said, beckoning non-specifically. "Her and yer pretty fella."

I noticed Seokjin let out the breath he had been holding. At least Taehyung wasn't alone. 

"Good then. Let's get inside before we get noticed." Clementine and the others began to dismount, and I looked around, confused. 

"Inside?" I asked, and Mateo unexpectedly danced to the side at the gaping hole in the ground that Rosa suddenly opened up beside him with a rough tug on a rope. I decided to act like it was my idea to dismount then, and luckily landed on my feet. It was a wooden hatch that revealed a very dark staircase. The women untacked their horses and set them loose, so with a concerned glance at Seokjin I did the same. Mateo and Luna would stay together, and if nothing else it might help Taehyung find us. 

This at least explained some of how the gang managed to stay hidden so often. I wondered how many of these secret basements they had around the country. Carrying my saddle and bridle down the pitch-black stone stairs was a test for my balance and arm strength, especially as exhausted as I was. The hatch slamming shut after Seokjin almost made me fall. We were the last to enter through the old wooden door Rosa held open, finally revealing some light.

I felt teleported as we stepped inside the basement. It was a startlingly grand bar, reminiscent of the Braithewaite manor we probably just torched. I tried not to think that those whom we knocked unconscious may not have made it out alive. However, vengeful children could have been a big problem in the future. I justified my sense of relief as self-preservation. 

Breaking me out of my morbid thoughts, Seokjin made a strange sound beside me that dragged my attention towards the door behind us. Thankfully, behind the petite and carefree-looking lass who trotted right into Clementine's arms, was Taehyung, dishevelled by contrast but glad to see us. He passed me to hug Seokjin, which didn't bother me, but when he then slipped from his lover's arms to hug Hoseok as well, I scoffed. 

"Whaaat, you don't like hugs," he said with a grin. 

"You're right," I said with a faux-annoyed expression as he went to wrap his arms around me. And as he squeezed his arms around my shoulders, I sighed and said: "glad you're back in one piece. You smell disgusting."

"Really? You smell like a box of lilies."

We turned at Clementine tapping her steel knife on a glass at the bar. "Drinks are on me tonight, lasses and lads. It's celebratin' time!"

Boy, could I go for a drink.

~~~~~~~~~~


	28. Real Expensive Business

I'm back did you miss me? Nearly finished writing this now :P

~~~~~~~~~~

_Chapter Glossary:_

**Bottom-lands:** rich flat land on the banks of rivers.

 **Bug:** term of endearment, especially to someone particularly important to you.

 **Dabster:** one who is expert in anything

 **Death on:** very fond of (likely led to "love to death"), same as sweet on/soft on.

 **Lag:** prisoner/convict

 **Land-loper:** a vagrant, one who strolls about the country

 **Owl hoot trail:** The outlaw way of life

 **Split Fair:** tell the truth/inform someone of something 

  
  


_Jimin’s POV_  


  
  


I wasn't used to being one of the ones left at home when others travelled away on a mission. At least I didn't feel restless, because spending time with Jungkook these days was very precious to me. Being away so often when I wanted badly to be here had given me a new outlook on things; it reminded me of the importance of goodbyes when leaving for a long time, and of the times you got to be with people you cared about. So, however long it took Yoongi, Taehyung, and Seokjin to wipe out the Braithwaites was how long I was going to spend doting on Jungkook. 

We moved to another location where we'd stayed in the past, the closest one we could move to so that we would be easy to find when the others returned. With trackers like Yoongi and Jin, we wouldn't even need to leave a message at the old campsite, but we did anyway. It wasn't that safe to stick around too long near a main road, and the new location had afforded us ample cover in the past, so we easily got comfortable there.

Infatuated these days with his new best friend Cody, Kook was sometimes too busy playing, training, or simply cuddling with the snow dog to receive my affection. In those cases I spent my time catching up on things that needed doing so that when he was finished with Cody, I was free as well. If I really had nothing better to do, I would just sit and watch them, because he was a whole new level of sweet, youthful innocence with that dog. 

Cody learnt basic tricks quickly—reflecting Jungkook's energy and focus and absorbing everything like a sponge—and moved without a hitch onto more complicated commands. Not only could he sit, lie down, roll-over, speak, and play dead, but he could 'find Namjoon' whenever Jungkook asked him to, he had learnt to guard an item or place on command, and he was getting better every day at finding things to dig up. As he got bigger, louder, stronger, and hungrier, he became more and more useful as well. The only issue still to work through was that Denali seemed to think he was a wolf, and she couldn't be within fifty feet of him. In that case, it was the horse that Jungkook was going to have to train. 

Namjoon hadn't been himself, not just since the others left but for a while before that. It had surpassed annoying—the grumpiness and seemingly unnecessary bad-mouthing of Hoseok—and become a little worrying. Every day he spoke to us less. Aside from sharpening his knife and occasionally skinning a carcass, he did nothing but hole himself up in his tent, not even taking advantage of the fire's warmth. It had very slowly begun to inch towards spring, but it was still bitterly cold at all hours. I wondered if he at least warmed up in front of it while Jungkook and I were in our tent. 

We certainly didn't need any help staying warm when we were in there. Needing to keep quiet for the sake of our camp companion was no discouragement to Jungkook. As though making up for spending the days with his pet, he spent the nights focused on me, unbuttoning and peeling back my warm layers until he could get his hands under and feel my skin. Kissing messy trails down my jaw and neck and sucking at my throat. Whispering in a husky, yearning tone that he wanted me. But unlike before when his touch came with a tremble and his cheeks blazed from a kiss, he was slow, gentle, and deliberate. As though he knew now that he could touch me and my response would be loving, that I could touch him and it would feel pleasant. That being together like this was mutual, addictive, healthy, and _good_. That the only reason I'd ask him to stop was if I had somewhere to be, and right before sleep I never did. 

The first time he moved his hand down past my belly, he was noticeably hesitant but equally excited. He couldn't focus on kissing anymore, just ghosted his wet lips over mine while he panted, lying on his side with one arm holding him up and the other buried in my clothing. I faced him patiently, hiding my smile with soft kisses against his lips and his cheeks while he explored with his long, slightly cold fingers. He seemed to want to touch me everywhere before he started, sliding unconsciously teasing strokes through the short patch of hair, purposely missing most of my length to drag his nails up my thigh just an inch. I couldn't tell if it was nerves or a deliberate segue making him drag it out, but I found myself delighted by it, just as much as the waiting made my patience melt away. 

There was a warm throb in my groin by the time he came close to indulging me, and a shiver ran up my spine. I moaned, deep and throaty, lips beside his ear as I'd almost let myself beg. His eyes had been focused on his task, but at that sound he turned to face me and kissed me hard as though reminded of what else he could be doing. I hummed against him, moving my hand into his hair to keep him there for a while. His fingers still moved so slowly, experimentally, but it was something, and I wanted him to discover this at his own pace. Even if it was just a little agonising. 

His touch set my skin ablaze, and he edged ever closer as his fingers warmed against me. He stuttered in his kiss when, finally, he stroked over my neglected, engorged flesh. I hummed encouragingly and rolled his bottom lip between my teeth to vent just a little frustration. He grabbed hold of me then, getting the message loud and clear.

"Sorry, I want to but I don't-..." he said, rushed and shy, and he sighed his warm breath across my lips. "Don't really know what I'm doing."

"Yer doing fine, bug; don't think so hard."

I wasn't sure if that would be good advice, but I hadn't been thinking when I touched him; just feeling. I didn't want him to confuse my confidence for experience. 

His breaths were controlled and slow and his brows pinched a little, and I could tell he was thinking about it as much as before now, if not more. I had an idea.

I shuffled a touch closer to him and worked his clothing open, softly pecking his jaw as a distraction. "Like this," I said, taking him lightly and dragging a firm grip up and down. He was more than half way hard already, and he very quickly rose to the occasion, chest swelling with deep breaths as he slowly lost focus. "Just pretend it's yer own," I whispered, and with that his grip tightened delightfully. " _Mmmnh-_ yes, just like that-" I moaned and squeezed a little in return. 

And as his mind drifted further from what his own hand was doing to instead enjoy mine, he moved instinctively, sometimes copying me and sometimes finding his own rhythm. I thought he might eventually be too deep in his own pleasure to continue, but his actions only became more fervent the further along he was, and I wasn't sure which of us was going to finish first. Our hot breaths tangled together in the cool air like our limbs under the covers, like our tongues against each other’s as we tried to muffle our moans. I felt like I might melt. My heart raced, not from just his touch but from the arousal on his sweet face and the way his hips moved into my hand for more. My mind filled with all the ways I wanted to give him pleasure, and everything I wanted him to do to me. Very quickly with those thoughts in my head my muscles began to burn and shudder, and it took us both by surprise when I reached my peak with a shout.

"Oh," Jungkook sighed, as though—rather endearingly—he'd forgotten about this part. He followed up with a pleasured sound as I tried to keep up my stroking, and he whispered an exclamation that I didn't quite catch in the haze of my orgasm. As soon as I could control my limbs again I worked to finish him too, breathlessly kissing his jaw and cheek while he panted hard. He moaned and cursed and I caught his lips with mine to swallow those sounds. His fingers wrapped around me still rubbed slowly as though he didn't want to stop. Even agonisingly hyperstimulated, I couldn't ask him to stop; it was addictive, like the heat of his body beside me, the feel of his pulse under my lips, and the soft, throaty whimpers that built and built until he came in my hand. He was so addictive.

Before so much as two breaths to recover, Jungkook was dabbing at my skin with a handkerchief to clean up, and I smiled breathlessly. "How thoughtful." 

He grinned shyly, cleaning himself afterwards and wiping my hand down at the same time. I simply watched, thoroughly enamoured while I came down from my high. He just looked so adorably innocent and precious, and I wondered how on earth I never noticed during the years when we were just friends. Maybe it was because I was looking at him through a different lens now. 

Eventually he relaxed, leaning closer to me with heavy breaths and a blissful smile, handkerchief discarded. I got comfortable, lazily doing up his buttons again and then my own.

"I'm… sorry," he said, breaking the quiet, and I found his eyes with a confused expression. 

"Sorry for what?" 

"You know, just-... being awkward… I-I hope it was okay anyway."

" _Jungkook_ ," I said with a slightly disapproving tone, though it dripped with affection. I found his hands with mine and raised them to my lips to kiss his fingers. "I am _death_ on you, wildly, _madly_ , like nothing else in the world." He watched me, gaze slightly careful and disbelieving. "I don't want you to think you have to be some kind of dabster for me; I love you."

We both realised it as I said it, brows raising at the same time. I almost hurried to explain myself, but I sealed my lips. I didn't want to weaken it as though I hadn't meant it. I had. I just hadn't expected it to come out right then.

After I recovered from the shock I collected myself and cleared my throat.

"And anyway, it wasn't awkward at all. Going slow isn't a bad thing… I liked it."

"Yeah?" 

"Yes, I promise." I didn't know how else to reassure him. I couldn't remember the last time I got off, so my euphoria was a little too overwhelming to think clearly. Maybe that's why I confessed so easily. He looked relaxed enough, anyway. I wrapped him in my arms and pressed a kiss to his forehead, my body peacefully exhausted and my heart full. 

"Jimin?" He said after a while of quiet. Without opening my eyes I hummed encouragingly. "Where do you think we'll be a year from now? Or five years?"

I hummed again, pensive now. "Where in the country?"

He giggled. "No, where in our lives. Do you wanna live this way forever?"

I had thought on the topic a little in the past. I liked our life, and I wasn't able to picture a different one for myself. Not until Jungkook began to talk.

"Sometimes I think about my parents and the farm I grew up on with Yoongi, and… it's peaceful. I'm happy now, but I wonder if we'll ever have a life like that."

I wondered as well, then. Picturing a quiet life had never seemed appealing until I pictured it with him.

"A little house, a few cows, some chickens maybe?" I said, sleepily finding his eyes with a smile. 

"Yeah," he said, grinning now that I'd shown interest.

"I think I'd like that," I said, though I wasn't really sure yet. Couldn't quite imagine it.

He tipped his chin up and bumped his nose against mine, smiling wide. "Makes me wonder where everyone else will be, then." 

"Maybe a _big_ house," I joked, and he chuckled.

"I don't think Yoongi will put up with us for that long."

"You think he will want to live separate?" I asked, surprised by that.

"Well, sure, if he ever splits fair on Hoseok. They could have their own life on the bottom-lands by Blackwater. Yoongi loves it there." 

"And everyone else?" I asked, loving his musing.

"I think Jin and Tae would keep travelling. Jin's a real land-loper, and Tae's a lag… the owl hoot trail suits them."

I hummed in agreement. "And Joon?" 

"He'll either," Kook began, and dragged it out while he thought. "Stay with Jin and Tae or finally marry that girl and settle down." 

I didn't know much about the girl Namjoon had been bound to wed when he was young, but I knew he'd been close to her his whole life. It must have been a difficult decision to leave a life of comfort and riches for this… I'm not sure what could have made him choose the way he did, and I wondered if he ever regretted it.

Despite how fun it was to dream of the future, we found ourselves falling asleep before long, and I pulled the covers up over our shoulders and drifted off wrapped up in his embrace. 

  
  


More shocking than my accidental confession was the surprise we were met with the next morning. Jungkook rose first to empty his bladder, as usual, but what wasn't usual was him rushing back inside the tent with a wild look.

"Jimin, uh… you better come see."

His panic roused me quickly. I dragged my coat on and rolled out of the covers. I stepped into my boots as I ducked out of the tent, canvas flap held open for me, and looked around to find what Jungkook was so alarmed about. The first thing I noticed was what I _couldn't_ see: Namjoon's tent.

"Uh…" I didn't know what to say.

Jungkook looked at me then, concerned. "Volt is gone, too." 

"Why would he go without sayin' anything?" I wondered out loud, completely at a loss. Despite being with the most important person in my life, I suddenly felt very alone. Namjoon was basically our leader, and the other older, trusted figures were away on business. It wasn't just confusing, but worrying, and very unlike Namjoon to do anything like this without communicating it.

"There must be a reason, right?" Kook asked, looking between me and the square patch of dirt where the tent had been. 

I nodded. "Surely. I hope he's all right." 

Cody was sitting patiently beside Kook's feet, awaiting his breakfast, tipping his head back to enjoy the absent pats he was receiving. If there had been some altercation in the night, Cody would have alerted us. It seemed, as much as I didn't want to believe it, that Namjoon had left of his own volition. 

The rest of the day was quiet and filled with confusion and dread. As much as it was a comfort to be together, we seemed to share the foreboding that came with being abandoned. Namjoon had been out of sorts for a while, but this was entirely unexpected. 

It was sprinkling just lightly with cool rain and the sun was beginning to set when we relaxed beside the fire and a pot of spicy stew. We both wished Jin had made it. Jungkook wasn't a bad cook, but something about Jin's cooking took such basic ingredients to another level. I could have really used some of his comforting cooking right now. Or even just him and the others, so that we wouldn't feel quite so alone. 

Jungkook was stirring his creation with the ladle when Cody suddenly leapt up and let out a chorus of warning barks. Moments later we heard distinct hoofbeats approach, and after glancing at each other, we looked towards the west and saw a horse and rider. Appearing through the underbrush was Hoseok, reins in one hand and his coat pulled tight around him with the other. He looked freezing. Jungkook got up to calm his dog and greet the rustler, and I watched, taking up the ladle to keep stirring. 

"Come sit by the fire," Jungkook offered when Hoseok dismounted, and as we settled down by the blaze, I noticed that Hoseok's right eye was bruised, blueish purple just beginning to spread down his cheek. 

"What happened?" I asked, not thinking of him as much of one to get into fights. 

"Firstly," he began, his voice slightly shaky from shivering. "Can I just say how darn glad I am to finally find you fellers?" 

"We aren't far from where we were," Jungkook explained. "And we expected everyone back by now." 

"Ah… about that," Hoseok said. "And about this," he added, beckoning to his eye. "While the job went well, there was an uh… a situation…"

"Spit it out, man," I said, suddenly nervous that he was about to tell us that someone had died.

"Taehyung and Seokjin left to find you two days ago, and Yoongi- well… he went missing for a while. I managed to find him and get him somewhere safe, but I didn't know where the rest of y'all were holed up, so he's with the Wapiti while he recovers."

"Is he okay?" Jungkook asked, suddenly frantic. 

"He…" Hoseok paused, looking unsure of how to explain. He also reflected some of Jungkook's anxious concern. "Last I saw he was resting. I think he will be okay; the healer operated and he's confident." 

"So he's not… awake?" Kook asked, voice giving away that he was distraught. 

"He could be by now," Hoseok offered, attempting some level of comfort even though he didn't look convinced himself. 

"Jimin, we have to go to him."

I agreed, definitely, but we couldn't leave the camp, and we were still so divided that it may have been worse to relocate again. What if Namjoon was coming back? 

Seeming to know already what I was thinking, Jungkook sighed, slightly more composed now, and watched his hands as he fiddled nervously. "I guess once we regroup?" 

Enthusiastically, I nodded and patted his knee. "As soon as we can." I turned to Hoseok then, catching his gaze, and noticed the fire had begun to return some colour to his face, and his damp hair was drying at the tips. "You said Jin and Taehyung left to find us days ago? We haven't seen them." 

"Maybe they sent word," Jungkook said. We were still close to Valentine, so it wouldn't take long to visit the post office.

"I'll check after some supper," I said and stirred the bubbling pot. We fell quiet for a while, the crackling fire and whistling wind filling the silence. Cody seemed to know Hoseok, lying comfortably with his head in the rustler's lap. 

"You haven't come across Namjoon, have you?" Jungkook asked after a while, and Hoseok suddenly pointed a very surprised expression at him. 

"No, is he… not here?" He asked, and he looked around as though he hadn't noticed our leader's absence. To be fair, Namjoon had avoided Hoseok for quite a while. 

"He was gone when we woke up this morning," Kook went on to explain. "Without so much as a word." He served up three bowls.

"Odd." Hoseok said, and followed up with a grateful but surprised 'thank-you' when he was handed some steaming stew. "Not like him to wander off?"

I shook my head. "Not at all." 

He didn't seem all that concerned, but disappearing without a trace was probably less concerning to those prone to doing it. "I'm sure he'll turn up," he said after finishing his meal. 

Having finished as well, I got up to make a trip to town. Jungkook watched me, brows perpetually pinched from the sombre news about his brother. I swung up onto Citali, tackless and with no more than my shotgun and pouch, and gave a small wave before cantering her away towards the town. 

I had never been that confident riding Tilly without her saddle or bridle. Not so much because I didn't trust her, but because she was used to the cues of metal and leather. Citali was trained using body language, and sometimes it was as though she knew what I was thinking. A gentle twist of my shoulders and she turned. A slight lean back and she slowed. So calm and obedient, yet free and happy. I felt just a little guilty loving her as much as I did. 

I dismounted before the train tracks and wandered inside, thankful for a break from the light yet annoyingly persistent rain. Everyone who usually waited for the train outside was instead crowding the timber seating areas or leaning against the walls to converse or smoke. Ladies in casual dresses cooed over a small, curly-haired dog. A family with young children struggled to arrange all of their bags. Two old farmers bickered about the price of sheep. It all reminded me of the world I'd missed out on living a transient life. This was civilisation, and it was alienating and unfamiliar, but also remarkably alluring. I couldn't quite picture myself living a quiet life yet, but for Jungkook, I wanted to. 

At the post office counter, the man behind bars greeted me warmly, even though he clearly remembered me from the last few times I stopped in to pay fines. Apparently he wasn't one to judge. After going through all of the names, codes, addresses, and other aliases I could think of, it turned out there was a letter addressed directly to myself, real name and all. I wandered away from the counter with a thank-you and began to read.

_Jimin,_

_or Jungkook, or Namjoon, whoever this finds, Taehyung and I are avoiding towns and have taken a long route to find you. We should arrive before Friday, but if we happen not to, have patience._

_Yoongi is not with us, and while I have faith in his survival ability, I'm worried. I hope he has found you by the time we do._

_Have some beers ready, it's been a long week._

_Seokjin_

Well, that set my mind at ease. It would be Friday tomorrow. I rushed back to the camp, darkness not slowing us down one bit, and smiled at Jungkook's expectant expression while I walked over to sit beside him. He took the letter and read it quickly. With a relieved look he told Hoseok. Finally, some good news, I thought. Hopefully, tomorrow would bring some more. 

It was the middle of the night when Jungkook shook me awake, and the first thing I noticed was quiet voices outside the tent. Kook and I exchanged delighted glances at the sound of Seokjin chatting to Hoseok, and we clambered out of the tent to greet them. 

“Darn, did we wake you?” Jin asked as he laid eyes on us. The three of them sat around the fire, and it looked like they’d settled in a little while ago. They’d eaten and set up their bedrolls by Hoseok’s already, and the horses were untacked and grazing. 

“Just glad to see you finally,” I said as I huddled beside Taehyung to be close to the fire. “Your letter put us at ease.”

“Glad it reached you. So Hoseok tells me Namjoon just… took off?”

Taehyung and Seokjin listened with matching confused expressions as Jungkook and I relayed the events of the past few days, from Namjoon’s decline into brooding silence until his disappearance. They were just as confused as us, but they didn’t have any questions to ask about it. Over a few beers they explained the events of the raid to us, starting with the home-invasion and finishing on an interesting series of events in an underground bar. While the raid and the fire intrigued me, I wanted to know more about this hidden booze.

“Do you think Fitzgibbons has more of those around the country?” I asked, and Jin shrugged.

“Could do. Seems she runs some real expensive business.”

Hoseok had drifted off at some point, sleeping peacefully now with his arms folded across his chest. I would certainly sleep more soundly with more bodies around as well. Taehyung rose in the middle of Jin talking about the Fitzgibbon gang and announced he had to take a leak, so I joined him in the privacy of the woods behind the tents to go as well, but also to harass him.

“Spent a lot of time alone with Jin these past few days, huh?” I said the moment he couldn’t leave, and he sighed.

“Is nobody safe from yer pesterin’?” he mumbled, but he didn’t seem annoyed. In fact, there was a hint of a smile on his lips, and that gave him away entirely.

Ginning, I elbowed him. “Ayy, spill yer guts, loverboy!”

By then he was fully smiling, a joyful expression I hadn’t seen on him in a long time. It filled me with warmth. “Mind yer business,” he chuckled, finishing up so he could escape me. 

“But is everything good?” I asked, unfortunately not finished enough to follow him yet. “Tae!” I called over my shoulder. “IS EVERYTHING GOOD?”

I would have to pester him more later. 

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeehaw I love me some Jikook. plz anticipate the next chapterrrr it's the love of my life. (spoiler: they all are)

BONUS CONTENT this is what it's like trying to make gifs with my friends:

[Click me](https://i.imgur.com/7EYGUv9.mp4)

(lmk if that doesn't work lmao)


	29. Modern Charm

No gif bc all the footage I saved got lost somehow and it's 1am

~~~~~~~~~~

_Chapter glossary:_

**Bussing:** kissing

 **Sozzled:** wasted, overly drunk.

 **Wašíču :** white men

  
  


_Yoongi's POV_

  
  
  


The world was a dizzy haze when I opened my eyes, much too bright at times, and others all too dark. I couldn’t see much when I attempted to look around, but I deduced that I was upright and not very comfortable at about the same time a myriad of searing aches and pains became evident all over my body. This did not feel like the hangover I expected to wake up to. 

There were voices at some point, distant and then closer, but for some reason, like my vision, I couldn't make them clear. It was like living a dream; I knew I was conscious, but nothing quite made sense. Dazed and nauseated, I kept my eyes closed and hoped to fall back to sleep, however uncomfortable, thirsty, and concerned I was. 

I drifted in and out of that state, between helplessly blind and unconscious, for a time that felt like days. People were around me, that was for sure, because I was fed water at least twice, and struck hard many times more. I couldn't react much, but it did bring moments of clarity; flashes of bright lights and momentary clear images of the unfamiliar faces leering down at me. From my inability to move much I deduced that maybe I was a hostage, bound and perhaps drugged. It took longer to fall back to sleep when I thought about it too hard, so I forced myself not to think about it. 

At some point, finally, something changed, and it wasn't a sight or sound that brought me back, but a faint yet familiar smell, and soon after, a feeling of moving. Not just physically shifting position but having my arms swing around in front of me after being bound behind me for so long, and my legs stretched out to stand. For a split second it was agonising, but there was a sense of urgency about the movement and whoever was moving me that I gave it everything I had to try to walk. 

And then I was being hauled onto a horse, and finally I could see. As I looked around I recognised the world and things as they should be. But it didn’t last, as exhaustion, pain, and crippling tiredness overtook me. I slipped into unconsciousness again, nothing in my mind but the rich, warm scents of whiskey and leather.

The next time I found consciousness was an altogether different experience. I was horizontal this time, and comfortable aside from a few pains I felt when I wriggled my limbs and shook my head. I really shouldn't have shaken my head. If I hadn't been dizzy before, I was now. “ _Ugh_.” The moment the sound came out of my bone-dry mouth, there was movement nearby, and I squinted around until I caught sight of someone. I recognised him before I realised where I was. Ahote, which made sense now that I saw the pelt-lined walls and timber frame of the teepee I was inside. 

“Yoongi,” he said, followed by a relieved-sounding comment in his native language. “I'm so glad you are awake,” he finished with, and I wasn't sure I agreed. 

“What am I doing here?” 

He knelt beside me with a waterskin in his hands resting on bare knees. “Hoseok brought you to us a few days ago.”

“A few days?” I rasped, my voice not ready to be raised in such a way. With even more confusion, I asked in a rough voice: “Hoseok?” After a cough I accepted his offer of some water and sighed as I felt it bring life back to my throat. 

“You were badly injured, mostly your head. Our medicine man operated, and thankfully you look like you are recovering well.”

Alarmed and feeling mildly sick, I eyed him, lying very still. “What kind of operation?”

Ahote's lips pursed. "I'm not sure you want to know the specifics… at least until you are done vomiting." 

I didn't remember any vomiting. But come to think of it I did remember Hoseok, even if I had no idea how he managed to find me or rescue me. I wondered if he was here. Out loud, I asked: “do my friends know?”

“We have tried to get news to them, but at this stage we have no idea where they are.” 

I didn't have the strength to worry about that yet. I closed my eyes, my eyelids so heavy it was as though I hadn't slept in weeks. 

“I will be back with the healer; he will want to inspect you.”

I learnt more than I wanted to know about the Wapiti treatment of head injuries in the next half hour. My skull had been drilled into to release some of the pressure the injury had caused in my brain, and it worked exactly how they intended it, but that didn't make it any less sickening to think about. At least the surgery had been a few days ago by the time I was awake, and it had begun to heal neatly. The healer's inspection ended on a high note, as I got a good chuckle out of hearing that my vomiting had caused sympathy vomiting in at least three other Wapiti. I was glad not to have the weakest stomach amongst them.

By that evening I was sitting somewhat propped up, not feeling as tired and exhausted after some more water and a tiny portion of bread. 

“You know,” Ahote began, reclining by another bed like mine that was probably reserved for others who were sick, but luckily for me was empty. Except when my self-proclaimed body guard was in here with me, which happened to be all the time. His tone reminded me of Taehyung or Jimin when they were about to spread some mischief. I looked at him with slight caution, wondering if he was anything like them or if I was reading this all wrong. “Hoseok spent two days curled up beside you while you were unconscious.”

There it was, the mischief. Now my heart was aflame, and I was sure it would show as colour in my cheeks. “He did?”

“Oh yes. After so long uncertain of whether or not you would wake, he could not stand it any longer, and he went to find your friends. That was yesterday, so hopefully they are together by now.”

Hoseok knew where the camp had been, but so should Ahote. If it was no longer there, I wouldn't know where it was, either. 

“Can I ask you something about Hoseok?” I said, finding it easier to talk to others about him than to talk to him. 

“Sure,” Ahote answered, suddenly facing me fully with an expectant expression. “But I would think you know as much as I do.”

“Was he distant from you as well, back when you two were sweet on one another?” 

Ahote's expression gave away that he was surprised, slightly open-mouthed as he stared at me for a moment, and when he looked down at his lap again it was to shake his head while he answered me.

“No, he was not always.” He took a few moments then, and I let him think. “He was warm. But at some point it was clear he began to hide things, and he pushed me away, slowly but surely, until he finally left without telling me he would.” 

I could tell this weighed on him. Hoseok had hurt him significantly. “Why do you think I'd know as much as you? He lived with your people for years, right?”

Ahote nodded, looking back at me then, his old wounds less visible in his current expression. “Much of my life, it felt like. And so long ago. But I figured he spends much of his life with you now.”

I hummed. “He doesn't. He used to drift by infrequently, but recently even less.”

“And you love him anyway.” It wasn't a question. Hearing it out loud from Taehyung had been confronting enough. From Ahote, it was downright daunting. 

“I even told him as much,” I admitted, and Ahote nodded again, knowingly.

“These days Hoseok might feel something, but he will not show it; he will run from it. I feel that… he needs someone who will run with him.” Somehow he knew that I was struck with indecision, not sure whether or not to ask what he meant, so he went on. “He is more guarded now… seems to try not to get too close to other people. When you express how you feel, you might have to show him that you really mean it; make him see what I can see.” 

I eyed him while he spoke, my discomfort melting away as he made it clear he was being sincere. I figured he was content talking about this; I'd worried in the past that he still had feelings for Hoseok as well, so the lack of jealousy was relieving. 

As usual, it seemed he'd read my mind. “I could tell you thought I would take him from you when we first met,” he explained, and if I'd been feeling any better, I'd have shifted uncomfortably. 

“Sorry about that.”

“It's in the past.” Smiling with his usual charm, he beckoned around as he continued. “All of this, my tribe and this land, it is enough for me to be grateful for, and it keeps me busy. I could never have this life and that man at the same time. The two of you, however; to me, that feels like fate.” 

Fate, I thought, suddenly wistful from all of his encouragement. I hoped his faith was not misplaced. 

He looked towards the buffalo-hide exit a moment before it opened, and I squinted against the harsh sunlight that streamed inside. The shapes that blocked the startling brightness made a hell of a racket as they bustled inside, and it wasn't until the door flapped closed again that I realised who had invaded my peace. Now crouched over me was—in order of unnecessary closeness to my face—Jungkook, Taehyung, and Seokjin. 

“What in blazes-” I mumbled, having not deciphered whatever they'd been shouting about on their dramatic entrance. 

“You're alive!” My brother said, looking like he wanted to throw himself on top of me with joy, but thankfully he refrained. 

“And _awake_ ,” Seokjin added. "We were told you were unconscious for days.”

“The Wapiti doc fixed me up, right Ahote?” I said, glancing over at where he now towered above us, standing slightly awkwardly behind my rattled posse. 

“Absolutely,” Ahote confirmed, and he looked at each of us reassuringly. The others seemed to suddenly notice him all at once and briefly left my side to greet and thank him. “It was all Hoseok,” he said, refusing their gratitude. “You should ask him about what happened when he gets back.”

“He's here,” Taehyung said, beckoning halfheartedly over his shoulder, answering the question I had been thinking to ask. I definitely needed to talk to him. 

“Oh, what a relief. In that case, I will be right back,” Ahote said, and off he was to find Hoseok. 

Jungkook crouched beside me again and sighed heavily. “You really scared us,” he began, eyes moving down the stitched-pelt rug that was keeping me warm. “I had no idea if I'd ever see you again.”

“Hey now,” I said, rustling up a comforting tone as best I could. I wasn't much for consoling anyone, but I knew how it felt to worry that my brother was in danger. “You know I don't go down that easy.”

Seokjin spoke then. “What happened after you left the basement that night?”

It was all a complete haze—not just the evening of drinking but the whole night of the mission. That darned moonshine Clementine served us seemed to have wiped my slate clean. 

“I have no idea about a thing that happened after the sun went down that day,” I explained, which was a slight exaggeration; I did remember a few small details about the raid, and galloping hell for leather through burning fields. Beyond that, I could picture the basement speakeasy, and moments of drunken dancing and laughing, but that was all. As for how I ended up wherever I did, I hadn't the slightest clue. 

“Ah,” Seokjin said, realising the reason. "That was a particularly strong 'shine."

“Where’s Namjoon?” I wondered out loud, and I noticed a few exchanges of awkward looks. “What happened?” I asked then, suspicious and mildly concerned.

Jungkook spoke, his voice low like he was worried about how I might react. “He… left. We don’t know where he is.”

Before any more conversation could take place, the Wapiti healer entered the tent and ushered everyone out, claiming that I needed to rest. I drank and ate a little more and took a few sips of a revolting soup that would apparently help heal me. After he left, I fell asleep almost immediately, relieved to be safe and comfortable amongst friends. 

When I woke again, Taehyung was peeking into the tent. “Mornin’,” he said softly, slipping inside. “I woke before the others and wanted to check on you.”

I groaned, stiff and still in pain, but better than the day before. It felt as though I'd slept a lot more than one night. More than the aches though, I felt restless. I wanted to get up and walk around. I wanted to see my stallion. 

“Still feeling like horse shit?” Taehyung asked as he perched himself beside me. 

“Not as much.”

His eyes wandered my face, something between amusement and amazement on his face. It was always confronting to be looked at like that, especially when I had no idea what I looked like. 

“Are you quite done?” I eventually grumbled, and he grinned as he dropped his eyes to his lap. 

“Hoseok told us what happened to you.”

“Mmph. Hasn't told me yet.”

Taehyung looked at me again, a little surprised. “Really? Well, I don't wanna steal his thunder.”

I sighed. “It’s all right; I don't think we're talking.”

“You and Hoseok?” He clarified, and then he snorted a laugh. “That's funny, considering all the bussin’ y’all get up to.”

My heart was suddenly in my throat, and after a second of shock, I quickly corrected him. “Hoseok hasn't kissed me.”

“Uhm. I don't know what you call it when you both close yer eyes and mash yer faces together, but I’d consider that bussin’.” He seemed to realise his humor was lost on me while I was so utterly confused. His tone changed when he spoke again. “You really don't remember?” I shook my head, not even sure I believed him. “No wonder you don’t drink moonshine; you must’ve been doggone fucked up.” I huffed and looked away, frustrated that he could be messing with me but agonised at the thought that he probably wasn’t. Taehyung had pulled a few good pranks in the past, but never on me, and never when it involved real, important feelings. 

I shook my head, frustrated by the giant gap in my memory. “I remember… dancing. And his arm around my waist,” I said, lost in thought, digging deep to dredge the memories up. “I don’t… I don’t remember much after that.” 

“Wait, you don’t remember _‘defending his honour’_ either?” He said with a smirk. 

“Err- no.” 

“Well. Let me regale you with the misplaced memories. I remember when he put his arm around you; he was swapping stories with some of the gang ladies. You looked shocked, and it was a while before you relaxed, but by the end of yer drink you wrapped yer arm around his neck and joined into the conversation. I figured you were loaded, and I stopped paying attention, but not long afterwards the pair of you stumbled over to the bar to order more 'shine and you tripped a little. Jin had just left to take a leak and I was watching him go, which is why I noticed you, but I had to do a double-take. The way Hoseok caught you was innocent enough, but it lasted a smidge too long, and he was lookin’ at you like he was seeing you for the first time, ya know?” 

No, I didn’t know, because I had no memory of this whatsoever. As he told me, it felt as though it could have been about anyone. I listened in tense and wildly uncomfortable silence. 

“Then just like that—like there was nobody else in the whole world—he kissed you. Not gentle, either. He pushed you against the bar and y’all went wild. I couldn’t look away, honest; I was… kind of thrilled for you.”

“You better not be messing with me,” I warned, though my voice was too soft to be threatening. 

“Swear on my honour, I’m telling it exactly as I saw it. Bet Cia and her friends saw too, if yer too lily-livered to ask Hoseok.”

“Fuck you. What happened afterwards?”

“Some feller at the bar decided to get offended and picked a fight, called Hoseok somethin’ unsavoury, so you cuffed him.” 

“I… cuffed him?” I clarified. 

“Well, you shoved him, and when he didn’t stop you started throwing punches.”

I rubbed at my face—gingerly because everything hurt—and groaned with a confusing mix of embarrassment and panic. “I’m never touching moonshine again.”

“Can’t disagree with that.”

I felt utterly nauseated. I’d wanted to kiss Hoseok for months and when I finally got to, I was too intoxicated to even remember. That or the memories had been beaten out of me by my kidnappers. If this was all true, why was Hoseok avoiding me? I wanted to see him now more than ever. 

Taehyung must have recognised the turmoil in my expression. “I think you need to have a conversation with him.”

I didn't bother agreeing out loud. He got up then and headed out, and I was left alone for a while with my over-active imagination. Too rattled to sleep again, I was lost in my thoughts the next time someone sheepishly poked their head inside to see if I was awake. This time it was just who I wanted to see, despite how unprepared I was to face him. 

“Yer, awake,” he said softly, expression relieved despite his pinched brows. He rushed a little to be by my side, and sat on his folded legs closer than Taehyung had, hardly an inch from my arm. 

“Still kicking thanks to you,” I said with a tiny smile for which I dug very deep. Acting normal around him still didn't come naturally.

“I owed you, didn’t I?”

I shook my head, feeling strangely euphoric just to have him here, looking at me in a way that proved he cared a great deal. He sat very still, hands on his knees with his body tense as though there was more he wanted to do. He couldn't hold my eyes for long, and I couldn't look away from his. “You never owed me anything.”

“I think I owe you an explanation, at least,” he said, glancing in my eyes as his expression became shy. Desperate not to dissuade him, I raised my brows a touch, though I couldn’t possibly have given him any more attention. “You see… I wasn’t ready for it when you said… what you said the other day. For me, things like that are better when they’re casual. I lost my family when I was just a lad, which I reckon made relationships awful tough for me. And then I found the Wapiti. They were the best family I could have asked for. But… what I had with Ahote couldn’t last, and I was terrified I’d lose that too. So rather than watch it disappear, I ended it. I ran away. And that was the last strut collapsing in this burning building. I ran away from my second chance at the love and support that I lost when my father passed. And… I haven’t stopped running since.

“And then all of a sudden, after knowing you for _years_ , one day you looked at me… in a way I hadn’t been looked at in a _loooong_ time. And I guess that scared me too. I pretended it wasn’t what I thought, you know? Too scared of feeling any kind of attachment that you could later take from me.”

He took a few deep breaths, having as much trouble getting this all out as I was having processing it. I watched him collect himself again, trying very hard not to get hopeful about where he was headed. 

“But now I see the things I ignored before that set you apart from anyone else. When the others talk to you, yer irritable, but when I do, yer focused. Yer always helpin’ me, and listening to me and all that. And the way you touch me is different. Different to how anyone else has before. You fuck real gentle. Never met someone so gentle.”

If I was a little warm from the way he talked about me a moment ago, I was blazing now. Maybe it was his experience making him comfortable talking about this. I knew I wouldn't be capable of stringing a sentence together describing sex with him, especially _to_ him. 

”So now I know, I guess. I know you don’t hang around me just so I’ll shack up with you. And I'm real sorry I got sozzled and threw myself at you like I did. That wasn’t fair on you.”

I gulped. The silence that followed made words creep up my throat, and a shaky exhale slipped out before I could find my voice. “I don't remember any of that night,” I began to explain, and his brow creased, indicating nobody had told him that yet. “Glimpses here and there, but not… that. And not after, either.”

Finally a touch of colour showed on his cheeks, as though this was somehow more embarrassing to talk about. His expression relaxed into a demure mask. “Ah, you forgot it all?”

With bitter-sweet disappointment, I nodded, and he sighed, shifting to sit more comfortably. I wasn’t sure if it was intentional, but his arm was against mine where he held himself up, and I fought not to look down at the contact.

“I wish I could remember what it felt like.” It was somewhat a whisper, my voice not strong enough for much more than that.

Hoseok’s eyes dropped from mine, and the corners of his lips pulled up just slightly. “What do you think it felt like?” 

My throat worked, feeling thick and dry. I was about to be terrifyingly honest. “Warm,” I began, but I was far from done. I’d spent a great deal of time wondering what kissing him would feel like. “Intimate. Like it’s… just ours. Like you want me. Like I’m not crazy, and you really are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” 

After a few long moments of staring at me in surprise, his brow quirked and he blew out his cheeks. “No pressure, then,” he said with a hint of sarcasm, and then he was moving closer. It didn’t feel at all real when his hand came to my cheek and his thumb brushed over a split on my bottom lip. I stared at him as the world stood still. I presumed I’d have the strength to reach up and pull him against me like I wanted to, but I didn't have the gall. _Surely he isn’t about to kiss me_ , I thought, an attempt at keeping my wits about me and staving off disappointment. But then he dipped down and closed his eyes as his lips pressed to mine, so gently. Suddenly it was very real; not dreamlike at all but confronting and nerve wracking. I felt heat crawl up my cheeks under his cool touch as his thumb brushed gently towards my ear. My mouth was too dry, and embarrassment caught up with me quickly as I realised I had no idea what I was doing. 

How was he so soft?

Only seconds had passed when he pulled back just enough to look at me. I finally took a breath. His eyes searched mine, unreadable. _That was nice_ , I thought, _and easier than I expected._ I could definitely get used to that. Instinctively, when he wet his lips, I did the same, and as though that was all he needed, he was dipping to kiss me again. And, _oh_ , this was not the same at all. His mouth moved on mine, and I was nervous again. Unlike every other time he’d surprised me with something utterly new, this time I had hope. Hope that he was choosing me, that he had feelings like I did. Hope that this was one of many such kisses, and he would teach me not to be nervous. 

That hope gave me confidence. His fingers curled into the hair above my nape, and I felt his excitement grow from his breaths and the pace he set. It was everything I’d wanted. My head was swimming, and all I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears. How I’d gone my entire life without this I had no idea. 

When he finally stopped again I was dazed and breathless. 

“Sorry,” he huffed. “Got a little carried away.” His hand moved down my neck to my chest and rested there, and I reached up to take it in mine. 

“Don’t be,” I said, finding bravery in the hope that was growing stronger from the way he was looking at me. Our fingers slid between each other’s, pulling our eyes to the contact. “I could do that all day.”

If only we had the chance. Hoseok jumped in fright at the teepee door entrance being batted open and turned to meet Ahote’s wild-looking eyes. The Wapiti suddenly grinned despite the frantic look about him. 

“Finally,” he said, voice a hurried breath, and I assumed he was referring to our hands holding each other’s. But then he followed up with what he clearly came in to tell us. “Might want to hurry this up, though; there is an angry bunch of _Wašíču_ asking about you fellers.”

Hoseok and I met eyes for a second for him to clarify. “White men.”

I gulped. I was in no shape to fight or make a run for it but even less inclined to let the Wapiti pay for our trouble. Between Hoseok and Ahote I was helped carefully outside and towards a horse. Being upright was so dizzying, but when I was on horseback, legs around the bare, warm back, I perked up enough to sit upright. Ahote swung up behind me and reached around me to hold the horse's mane. I found Hoseok’s eyes as he turned Lady towards the east, and he looked characteristically panicked. I wished he wouldn’t come with me. I was bad luck. At least one of us would be useful in a fight. 

The horse I was atop—Kanti, I assumed—had a very fast and smooth gallop, and I was reluctantly comforted by the broad body behind me, since I wasn’t sure if I could stay balanced by myself. The journey consisted of lots of galloping with only short breaks, so I wasn’t in any position to complain about personal space. 

Somehow I felt less tired when we finally slowed to enter Saint Denis at a respectable pace. It was dark, and looking around I couldn't see Taehyung, Seokjin, Jimin, or Jungkook. I did see Hoseok, and the way he smiled at me—soft and bittersweet—made my heart skip a beat. I figured there had been some conversation on where we should hide out, likely during one of my episodes of drifting off, embarrassingly comfortable against Ahote's chest. My first thought was that Saint Denis seemed like the worst option, but on the other hand, the last place anyone would look for us would be as close as possible to the scene of the crime. 

Even better, Hoseok undoubtedly had connections in the city. I was able to walk after we stabled the horses, and I made it clear that I wanted to. The exercise and fresh air made me feel stronger and much better recovered. Saint Denis was dark and smelly as usual, electric light posts giving the slippery cobblestone roads their modern charm. Even at this time of night, there was such lively energy and diversity evident in the tourist population and the local community alike. Foreign food restaurants were closing for the evening, and market stalls adorned with intricate goods from abroad were being packed away. I stumbled twice, each time lucky enough to be caught by strong arms, and I decided to focus more on my footing than my surroundings for a while. By that time, Ahote looked just about ready to pick me up and carry me, more amused than annoyed, at least. 

In a dark, quiet alley we climbed a small, upright set of stairs to a sealed-looking door. Before we all made it onto the landing, it opened for us, and we all slipped inside, Hoseok first and Ahote last. It was dark inside, dredging up blurry flashes of the descent into Clementine's speakeasy from my memory. A candle was lit when the door clicked closed behind us, and a padlock snapped shut to seal the entrance. 

Inside was a simply-decorated house, from what I could see in the candle's dull glow. Hoseok led us through a narrow hallway and then down a set of stairs to ground level again. I didn't question Ahote about placing a hand on my shoulder on the way down. A few more candles were lit until I could finally see more than three feet in front of me. It looked cozy, if a little unused, scarlet suede couches a tad dusty, matching heavy curtains blocking out the city lights. It wasn't small for an inner-city dwelling, and seemed to have quite a few rooms. It looked classy and expensive, and not very lived-in. I wondered if…

“Welcome… to my house,” Hoseok said with a sheepish smile, beckoning around. Behind us, the person who had let us in silently went about dusting and tidying in the dark. “This is Jorge; he lives upstairs and keeps the place in order for me.” 

Even when I turned to look, the older fellow was not easy to see, a little hunched over and not quite close enough to any candles. He didn’t acknowledge us, either. Hoseok breezed past it. “Let me get you comfortable, first,” he said, and marched towards a door behind one of the large couches. I followed slowly, taking all of this in through the exhausted haze in my brain. I had no idea Hossok had this kind of money. 

Inside the room, he lit a few more candles and revealed a ridiculously lavish interior, candlelight shimmering in the silver decor and a large shadow cast by a four-post bed. How was he this rich? Ahote passed me gently—more nimble than his intimidating size should allow—and helped Hoseok dust the blankets and pillows. So many pillows. I wandered to the window, feeling awkward. Peering through a crack I made in the thick floor-to-ceiling paisley curtains, I gazed at a garden outside, illuminated by the moonlight. I couldn’t even picture where a garden could have fit in this alley, but there it was, perfectly private with a large brick wall between us and the streets. 

My attention snapped back to Hoseok when he was suddenly beside me, fingers soft against my arm. “Rest a while?” 

That sounded like heaven. “Thank you,” I said and all but collapsed onto the welcoming softness. I kicked off my boots just as Hoseok offered me some water, which I gratefully chugged before getting comfortable. I didn’t want to fall asleep immediately—there was so much I wanted to know—but as soon as my head hit the pillows I was unconscious. 

~~~~~~~~~~


	30. Intervention

Kanti in Saint Denis!

Aaah so I'm sorry this is taking so long, it's almost been a whole year since I started posting this story! I hope it will be finished before it's been a whole 12 months ><" 

As is the same for everyone at the moment, my life has been a bit hectic! I hope this chapter can keep you lovelies satisfied for now ^^

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** [TW! Drugs/addiction] **

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_ Chapter glossary: _

** Disremember: ** forget or choose to forget

  
  


_ Yoongi's POV  _

  
  


With such thick blockout curtains, the time of day was hidden from me when I finally stirred awake. Moving my body was a little easier than the last time I woke, and the world wasn’t spinning. And, unlike the past few days, I was ravenous. Despite my improvement, I took it easy getting out of bed. Walking still made me a little dizzy to begin with, but by the time I made it to the bedroom door, my vision recovered. 

Bright rays of light spilt across the stone-tiled floor in the living-room, sharp in my eyes and making me blink. I looked towards the sound of movement and found Ahote upright on a single suede couch, a small, bronze decorative horse in his hands. He placed it gently on the end table beside him and smiled at me, effortlessly charismatic as always. 

When he spoke, it was hardly above a whisper. “You look well-rested.”

I nodded and decided to take a seat as well, but the larger couch was occupied. I stopped when I noticed Hoseok, a little sprawled on the three-seater, fast asleep with his mouth slightly open and a blanket half falling off him. It froze me, how sweet he looked, and how tired. I was glad he was getting a good rest. 

Ahote rose then and offered me his seat. "I'll get you something to eat; you must be starved."

I was excited by the thought of food as he marched off towards presumedly a kitchen. Sitting beside Hoseok in the adjacent chair, I couldn’t drag my eyes away. There was a slight scar on his brow where that stranger had knocked him out cold. He still wore a dirty bandage on his hand. He made me feel so weak in the most strange and endearing way. 

I managed to tear my eyes away from him when Ahote returned, trying not to worry about what had still been left unsaid. Did this mean anything? The way he kissed me felt like something, but we'd done plenty before that I wrongly assumed had meaning. If we were laying low for a while, I hoped we'd have time to talk about it a little more. 

"Sorry to disturb you while you are eating but, I am worried for Hoseok…" Ahote said in a low tone. I had hardly begun my meal, but if it was about Hoseok, I didn't care what I was doing; I wanted to know. When I met his eyes he shook a small vial pinched between his thumb and forefinger, looking at it and then at me. "Recognise this?"

My stomach dropped. It was not identical to the painkiller Hoseok had taken for all those weeks in the early winter, but it was the same size and tell-tale shape. And it was empty. I suddenly felt sick with worry. 

"He's still on laudanum?" I asked, dreading the answer. 

"I am not sure; I do not know what this is, so I wanted to ask you."

I took the bottle and read the label, my heart sinking. "It's… worse. This is worse than laudanum." I looked back up at Ahote with a grim expression. "This is heroin." Since I was a child, strong medications like these had been used on patients of all ages, and in recent years it became clear how important it was to only take it for short periods. Dependency was rampant, and it was taking lives. 

Ahote rummaged through Hoseok's pouch and pulled out three more vials, handing them to me as he went. I couldn't shake the terrible sick feeling that Hoseok was in danger from this. Luckily, I knew someone who had second-hand experience with opiate addiction.

I needed to talk to Namjoon. 

It felt like a lifetime passed while I waited for Hoseok to wake. Ahote and I were on edge, unable to do much but worry. I didn’t know much about addiction aside from what was reported in the bulletins in towns and what Namjoon had told us about his father. From what I remembered, his old man’s addiction spurred from a prescription of some painkiller for an old injury, and he was never able to stop without intervention. He eventually made a full recovery, but at a severe cost to his longevity. He passed away when Namjoon was twenty-two, not long after he abandoned his old life. He only found out due to a death announcement, since he was considered one of the richest men in the country. I hoped Namjoon would have some advice for us, even if he didn’t give a damn whether or not Hoseok survived this. 

When Hoseok woke, he seemed uncharacteristically groggy, and he was clearly in pain. When he stirred enough to look around, he found Ahote’s concerned gaze and then flicked his eyes over to look at me. He must have realised quickly that something was amiss, because he immediately sat up and looked between us, tired but now a little rattled. 

“Okay, spill the bad news you two,” he croaked, only one eye completely open. I really wanted to enjoy how he looked right then, but there was too much to worry about. 

I met Ahote’s eyes, hoping to draw some strength from him, and he gave an encouraging nod. I sighed as I held out my hand full of little glass vials, and Hoseok froze, all of the blood draining from his face. Looking entirely speechless, he simply stared for a few long moments, and then slowly he slumped down into the couch, deflated.

“You found me out,” he finally said, and I gulped, feeling anxious and hesitant. I didn’t know what to say, but I had to say something,  do something. 

“Hoseok, you  know you can’t keep taking this, right?” I said, cautious about how he would react. 

“It was just until the pain went away… It still kills me to walk or ride…” He didn’t seem too defensive; thankfully his response was quiet and non-confrontational. 

“It was a bad wound, it will hurt for some time, but you have to stop, Hoseok. Where did you even get it?”

It was his turn to gulp, and he somehow managed to look even more guilty. “Clem knows a guy…”

Of course. 

I sighed, placing the vials down on the end table between the arms of the couches. “Laudanum is one thing, but this?” Hoseok’s head cocked to the side then, and the way he glanced over at the vials made me wonder briefly… “Hoseok… do you know what this is?” 

Hoseok looked back in my eyes, but only for a second, and I didn’t think I’d ever seen him so shy. “I… uh… no, I can’t read.”

“Oh,” I said, suddenly embarrassed. “I didn’t know.” He didn’t look away from the vials, sheepish and noticeably exhausted. He was probably due for another dose, but I wouldn’t let him. I couldn’t. “Well, it’s heroin, and if you keep taking it, it  will kill you.”

Shocked, he did look at me then. That fear would be useful in helping him break free of this. I hated scaring him, but I could put up with it a whole lot better than the alternative. 

Ahote spoke next, as though alleviating some of this burden. “We are going to help you,” he said soothingly, and Hoseok turned those shining round eyes on him, giving me a second to breathe. He agreed, at least for now, and I rubbed my face in my hands, relieved. I hope that this was the most difficult part done with, but I feared it wasn’t.

Ahote decided he would make the trip west to find Namjoon, wherever he might be. He took the heroin, too. I didn't know why he thought he’d be able to find our 'shiner friend, but Hoseok assured me after he was gone that Ahote wouldn’t have any trouble. 

“He’s not just good at tracking animals, you know. He has an uncanny ability to find men, too.” 

Thinking that maybe conversation would be a good distraction for now, I questioned him on a related topic. “Why do you think it is that Namjoon just high-tailed it like he did?” 

I knew from his sudden stiffened pose that I'd struck a nerve. It seemed he knew something I didn’t. He let out a slow breath before meeting my eyes again. “Swear to me you won’t be mad,” he pleaded, and I blinked, confused. 

“Mad at whom?”

“Me.”

Surprised, I shook my head. “I swear I won’t.”

Warily he found a way to begin. “I’ve known Clem longer than I’ve known any of y’all, and some time ago, I learnt her background and her real name… and I know what family Namjoon is from, so… eventually ago I put two and two together, see? Clem was… Namjoon and Clem were… to be married.” 

My jaw dropped. 

He went on. “That was obviously in the past for them; Namjoon no longer associates with his family, and neither Clem with hers. She even changed her last name to escape them. But… Namjoon must have seen a poster or… something, and found out that she wasn’t just any Clementine, she was  _ his _ Clementine, and he… well, he must’ve guessed that I already knew. And I think he resents that I never told him. Maybe he thought y'all were getting too close to her for comfort?” 

Still tripping over the idea that the wild, violent, dangerous bandit leader was Namjoon’s ex-betrothed, I backpedalled a little to get a handle on the story. “So who is Clementine really?”

“She's a Vanderbilt.”

A low whistle of wonder escaped me. Vanderbilt was a household name, and it had been for as long as I could remember. Such a rich family made a huge impact on the past and future, not only economic. “That’s big money. Namjoon never told us who she was.”

“Did he tell you much about her?” Hoseok asked.

“Hmm… he gave the impression that the two of them were close as children, and that he didn't run away from that life to get away from  her as such. So maybe… even if he didn't want us to find out who she was to him, maybe he’d like to see her again?” 

Hoseok slowly picked up on what I was suggesting. “Maybe that’s why he was so angry with me…”

Seeing that I had succeeded in distracting him, I figured I’d indulge myself and keep him talking. It would keep his focus off his pain, and it was something I’d been wanting to do for a long time. 

“Speaking of being angry for mysterious reasons,” I began, bravely recalling his storming into my tent that day in a controlled rage. His wondering expression turned into a slight grimace. 

“Ah, heck, I was disrememberin’ that. I guess I should explain.” He looked quite hesitant, and shifted gingerly before he began. “We had a small delivery of goods to the camp that day from one of the gang’s associates. The feller driving the wagon was young and charming, you know the type, and while he helped unload our provisions he was gettin’ all friendly with one of the girls. She didn’t seem to mind; none of them take any shit from anybody, that’s for sure.” 

I couldn’t tell at all where the story was going, but I could see him becoming upset as he told it, brows creasing and lips curving downwards. 

“Anyway, it wasn’t long before Clementine got it in her head that he was making unrequited advances on her, and I wasn’t there to see all of the exchange, but she ended up killing the lad. I don’t know what made her think he deserved that. It was so heartless, and I was so angry.”

Well, I could understand now that he had good reason to be fuming. I knew Clementine could be cold, but not that cold. 

Hoseok sighed, some of the anger leaving his tense pose. “So I rushed off in a huff, needing to be away from her. The uh… the drug, it makes me a little irrational sometimes I think. Before I knew it I… I was headed towards you.” 

I was curious and a little infuriated for him, but right as he finished I became quite flustered. The way he said it, as though his heart had led him there… my imagination caused my cheeks to heat up. 

Looking shy again, he scratched his head and looked anywhere but at me. "I told myself it was because you were close and convenient. But really, I think I was frightened I'd pissed you off about Mateo and all that. And I missed you. But I wouldn't admit that to myself at the time."

My heart was pounding. He must have known what his words were doing to me. 

"Anyway… I wouldn't usually be so bold but I was all drugged up of course, and as I rushed past all yer friends to yer tent… all I could think about was how much I wanted to offload it all onto you; all that anger and disappointment. But wanting to do that made me feel silly. Made me feel dependent on you, and I didn't want that. So, I decided on a way to vent with a little less talking." 

I couldn't hide how embarrassingly emotional his explanation made me, so I simply didn't speak for a while, afraid of what I might say, or how my voice might sound. He eventually found my eyes, just for a moment, and my heart felt so full. It felt as though all of this was too good to be true. 

"All that time I-" I began, but I hesitated, my throat feeling almost too thick to continue. "I assumed it meant nothing to you."

He fiddled with the blanket around him, clearly uncomfortable. "I wanted it to. Easier that way. But it was never nothing with you. I couldn't disconnect like I usually did, so deep down I knew I was feelin' somethin' about foolin' around with you. And well, a blind man coulda seen that it meant a lot to you."

I smiled shyly. I was a confusing mix of worried, overwhelmed, and elated. There was too much uncertainty about how all of this would play out for me not to feel some anxiety, but his confessions gave me a lot to be hopeful about. I wanted to focus on his condition first, but I couldn’t manage to wrangle my emotions enough for that.

After a while of silence, Hoseok adopted a faux-impatient tone and ran his fingers through his hair stressfully. "I know yer not real talkative, but I thought you'd have at least a little to say about it."

My smile widened briefly, and I battled to tone it down. I had never felt this giddy before. "This is all very new for me." 

He seemed to accept that, and a sweetly amused expression crossed his face, softening the crease in his brow that had been lingering all morning. I was glad my plan to keep him distracted was working so well. 

Unfortunately, it didn't last. Hoseok politely declined any offers of food for the next several hours, and by the afternoon he looked positively ill. His leg was ailing him, and he was covered in a light sheen of sweat. As though too polite to complain about it, he didn't let me help at all, and that evening he wouldn't eat any supper. I didn't sleep all night, because I could never get him to settle. He started to tremble occasionally, and became worryingly pale. By dawn the next day, I decided he desperately needed to see a doctor, and I wasn't going to take no for an answer. 

"There has to be someone around here you trust who might have helpful advice, even just to ease some of your suffering," I wondered out loud, exhausted from worry and lack of sleep. He was on the couch again, sometimes shivering and wrapped in a blanket and sometimes sweltering and feverish. Jorge shuffled around the room, tidying, and mumbled something in Spanish that I didn't catch. Hoseok gave me a dismissive look with heavily lidded eyes. He took a sip of the water I had brought him a while ago, looking like he couldn't stand the taste. 

"There's a doc a few blocks away. I trust him."

I nodded curtly. "Then that's where we're going." Before I leapt to action I glanced at the clock on his wall above the heavy blockout curtains. "At a reasonable hour," I added, feeling deflated that I couldn't help him until then. 

By the time the sun was high enough to expect the doctor to have unlocked his practice, Hoseok had thrown up his water. Even though I had to basically carry him most of the way, we made it there in one piece. The doctor—Doctor Charleston, he introduced himself as—was a little startled when he stumbled inside, the glass door rattling worryingly as my hand bumped it in passing. Hoseok wasn't heavy, just awkward to support when he couldn't decide whether or not he could walk by himself. Charleston guided him to an empty seat, and I sighed with relief to set him down. 

"Now what is it that ails you, Sir?" he asked, giving Hoseok a curious once-over. His dark coat and slacks were in pristine condition, matching the extravagant interior of his practice.

Hoseok looked shyly at the doc and then over at me, pain in his eyes while he gave me a pleading look. I gulped. I'd never seen him turn down a chance to chat; could have sworn he'd spark up a conversation about the weather on his deathbed. Sweat dripped from his brow down the side of his jaw, and I took a slow breath, reminding myself that he was going to be okay, no matter how bad it looked. I would make sure of it.

"It's addiction; he's uh… trying to stop," I explained, and Charleston nodded, stroking his moustache absently. 

"Mhm, classic symptoms: perspiration and the tremblin'. I'd say day one or two dry?"

I nodded. "About that. He didn't sleep last night and hasn't eaten or… kept any water down."

"Looks like you didn't sleep neither," he observed, smiling wryly, and I grimaced a little in reply. "I've got something to settle the nausea, lad; wait here," he assured as he patted Hoseok's shoulder and disappeared into a back room. Hoseok fidgeted, shifted in his seat, winced, sweated some more, and looked anywhere but at me. Charleston returned before I could be completely overwhelmed with feelings of total uselessness. 

"What's that?" I asked, sceptical of putting more drugs into him at a time like this.

"Good of you to be concerned," the doc began. "Some call it Devil's Breath, but it's just an extract of nightshade. A little every now and again will settle him, but I'm only giving you two days worth, so there's no chance of another addiction. About half an hour after use, try some food, something hearty but not too rich like bread, and offer plenty of water. If he doesn't keep it down, come back, all right?" 

I nodded, hopeful and thankful. "And what time should we use the next dose?"

"When he wakes up tomorrow, assuming he sleeps. Once this wears off, he'll be restless again. I suggest distractive measures for relief. Burn incense, exercise, go to the theatre, anything that makes him feel good."

I nodded again. “Thank you, I'll try that.” 

He helped Hoseok take a spoonful of the medicine before handing me the tiny vial of tomorrow's dose. I hoped this meant it would only last another couple of days. 

Hoseok rested a little while more in the chair, but Charleston recommended we go sooner rather than later, as by the time it kicked in Hoseok may no longer be able to sit up straight let alone walk home. 

Surprisingly, the return journey was much easier. Hoseok became a little more alert and was able to hold himself up. He didn't say anything all the way home, and did little more than groan as he slouched down into his couch again. 

“Ready for something to eat, yet?” I asked optimistically, and he looked at me as though shocked I was even there. He seemed to go through about six different emotions over a few moments of staring, and then he hummed and closed his eyes, relaxing into his blankets. Confused, I didn't know if I should let him drift off and get some sleep or make sure he consumed something of substance first. 

I decided on the latter. I crouched in front of the couch and gently touched his knees, resting my hands there and gently shaking him to get his attention. “I’m gonna make you a snack, okay, Hoseok?”

He blinked a little and met my eyes, weary as he gulped and nodded gently. “Okay… I’m not real sure if I can eat, but.”

I smiled, bittersweet, and patted his leg encouragingly. All I could do was hope. “Just don’t fall asleep, all right?”

Hoseok mustered a tired smirk, making my heart flutter as I stood. It seemed his kitchen was kept somewhat stocked with fresh food, so I quickly heated some canned beans and toasted some bread.

As I returned, plate in one hand and utensils in the other, he sat up and pulled the blanket off himself, looking sweaty but shivering anyway. I tried to tell myself he was just a little ill, this would pass in time. But it was so frightening to have no idea whether or not he would pull through. Addiction-related deaths were so common in these parts, and becoming more so with every passing year. It was a struggle to stay optimistic. 

“That actually smells good,” he said, sounding surprised and following the plate with his eyes as I handed it to him. 

“Probably a good sign,” I observed, and as I did so I realised it really did smell good, and I was famished. My stomach rumbled loudly enough for us both to hear, and Hoseok’s eyes flicked to mine, concerned.

“You didn’t make yerself a bite?” 

I shook my head, sitting back on the couch beside his. “Didn’t even cross my mind.”

“Well,” he began, gently moving to the edge of the couch to be closer to me. “There’s enough here for us both.”

_ I couldn’t _ , I thought, and I was about to say it, too, but just the thought of eating made me salivate. And, pleasingly, he looked much more lively and like himself as he encouraged me to share with him. I reasoned that if it wasn’t enough, I could always cook more. 

Making sure to offer water all the time, I managed to get Hoseok through to the afternoon with minimal stress. By dusk he was uncomfortable—the high likely having worn off—and he was not just in pain but clearly suffering from withdrawals. By the evening I had almost lost hope again. He wasn't keeping any water down anymore, but at least he'd been drinking all day. Hours of agnosing darkness passed with me praying he would be exhausted enough to fall asleep. He wasn't making any sense when he spoke, words coming out a little slurred, and sometimes he'd trail off as though forgetting what he wanted to say. All I could understand was that he insisted he was too hot despite being cold to touch and shivering violently. 

I couldn't give up on him, but I wasn't going to be able to do this for much longer. He was worse than the night before, endlessly groaning in pain and unable to stay in one place for more than five minutes. I had been over-tired by that morning, so by the next I felt like death warmed up. There was nothing in my stomach, but I felt nauseated from exhaustion and couldn't even consider eating. At least by the time the sun was up, I could give him the final dose of nightshade extract. 

If I could get him to take it. It was just a few drops on his tongue, but he refused it when I offered, eyes screwed shut and a grimace pulling his lips down at the corners. It ached to see him like this, and thinking I might have to get forceful hurt even worse. I couldn't think of a way to get him to take it. 

Luckily, as I paced in front of the couch with the vial on my hands and my arms crossed over my chest, I heard the upstairs entrance creak open. Hoseok didn't seem to acknowledge anything as Ahote trudged down the stairs. I'd never been so happy to see him.

"I brought you a gift," was the first thing he said, looking with soft, handsome brown eyes at me as though he pitied my current state. From behind him, Namjoon made it down the stairs and turned to face me, hands coming to his hips and a sigh puffing out. 

"Thank God," I said to Ahote, my voice almost leaking with emotion. "I haven't slept since you left." 

"I can tell. How is he?" Looking past me, he pointed a concerned look at our trembling host. 

I didn't bother answering, simply gave him a grim expression before turning to Namjoon. Ahote went to Hoseok, either to offer some comfort or give us some privacy. 

"Where  _ exactly _ did you disappear to?" I asked, clearly disapproving of what he'd done to my brother while I wasn't there to keep him safe. I trusted Jimin, but in these times and with our potential outlaw status, he must have known that we were safer when we had each other to watch our backs. 

"It's a long story. Let me help you with yer little addict, then I'll explain." 

Namjoon came equipped with some interesting tools for getting Hoseok through all of this. The first, which I never would have thought of, was coffee. Hoseok didn't want anything to do with it to begin with, but Namjoon didn't have any trouble doing what I couldn't bring myself to, and he got rather insistent. Luckily it only took one sharp slap to the side of his face, and suddenly he was willing to comply. Ahote and I both flinched from it, but the relief that followed for the next few hours made it seem worth it. Namjoon had dosed the coffee with the Devil's Breath, and within half an hour Hoseok was alert and coherent again. 

"Sorry for hittin' ya," Namjoon said as we all sat down to eat. That was surprising, since I was under the impression he very much disliked Hoseok. 

"Mmh," Hoseok hummed through a mouthful of fruit. It seemed like he forgave him. 

"What's with the candy?" Ahote asked, pointing to the bag of sweets Namjoon had beside him. 

"When my father finally came out of his worst addictive phase, he started eating a lot of this kinda stuff. Said it gave him a rush, which really helped his cravings. I'm no doctor, but as far as I can tell, the best thing for gettin' over substances is distraction."

Hoseok mumbled something over his meal then, and we looked at him. He had a look as though something had dawned on him. "That's what Jorge was suggesting," he said, looking between us all, but most pointedly at me. "I didn't know what he meant when he kept mutterin'  _ dulce _ , but he was tellin' me to eat sweets." 

I smiled and shook my head. "The doc said to try things that make you feel good; I guess coffee and candy are popular curatives."

Hoseok still looked ill, and he hadn't stopped trembling on and off, but seeing his smile, albeit pale and weak, was a relief. 

Namjoon added, with a mouthful, "remember to eat lots of apples, too, or they reckon yer teeth'll all fall out."

"One thing at a time," I said, but I made a mental note of his advice for the future. 

The day passed rather quickly, but Hoseok had moments where he got much worse. We kept him alert with caffeine and sugar, but a few times he had worrying panic attacks that kept sleep a long way out of my mind. Ahote managed to stay overwhelmingly positive, unlike myself, and it helped Hoseok refocus and come out of the worse episodes. 

A little after dark, Namjoon gave up his attempts at convincing Hoseok to have more water and mentioned that he should try to get some sleep.  _ Wishful thinking _ , I thought, considering the two sleepless nights we just spent together in mutual agony, but for some reason Hoseok agreed with him and made his way to the bedroom. 

Namjoon noticed my confusion. "That's the other perk of coffee, see." He picked up Hoseok's most recently-used cup and beckoned with it to emphasise his point, then started towards the kitchen to tidy up. "After the high comes a low. He's gonna sleep like a baby." 

I still wasn't sure I believed him. I followed Hoseok to the bedroom and tentatively peeked in, praying Namjoon was right. He was standing by the window, curtain drawn just enough to see outside, and he looked over as the door creaked. 

"I wanna sleep… I'm so tired," he said, and boy did he look it. He also looked wired and stressed out, sweat pulling at his hairline and his brows perpetually pinched; not at all ready to sleep. "But I feel like I can't." His voice was hardly more than a whisper, and he didn't just sound exhausted, but defeated. 

I thought about ways to wind down, things I liked to do to help me sleep when I had something on my mind that wouldn't allow me to relax. Sometimes a walk or a ride would help, and sometimes it took a generous dose of whiskey. But, on a cool night like this, I knew something that would reliably settle me enough to drift right off. 

So, considering he seemed to have every other luxury in this fancy house, I asked: "Do you happen to have a bath?"

Ahote, Namjoon, and I sat around the lit fireplace sharing a bottle of rum as Hoseok took a leisurely bath prepared by the quiet and elusive Jorge. Before I could ask, Namjoon began his long-awaited explanation. He was always a little chattier when he started drinking. 

"How much do you know," he said first, looking at his cup and then at me, expression a little dark. "About Clementine?" 

My brows spiked. Holding his eyes, I considered shrugging and acting like I didn't know more than the obvious, but if I expected his honesty, I needed to give him the same. "Well, I hear she's got a little in common with you, rich daddy and such." 

He frowned down at his drink again and then looked towards the fire, contemplative, maybe nostalgic. "Hoseok told you?" He asked, and I nodded. "Hmph. I figured he knew."

"Knew she was landed, or knew…" I began, but I trailed off suggestively. 

He nodded slowly. "Knew who she was to  _me_. " Ahote sat quietly, looking between us as we spoke, the kind of innocent but curious expression Jungkook often wore. "I didn't wanna believe it when… when I saw the poster Jimin brought home one day. It… didn't look like her much, of course, it looked like a swamp hag, but all of those sketches are wildly inaccurate. But there was something about the eyes and the shape of her lips… It hit me like a donkey hoof in the guts, I tell ya. I felt like she was looking right at me in the flesh."

Namjoon could tell a great story with the best of them, but he was often theatrical and exaggerating. This particular recollection felt unusually real, especially if the vulnerability in his expression was anything to go by. 

"And how could Hoseok  _ not _ know, I thought, because he knows everyone and everything from Annesburg to Tumbleweed, and he's known me since I was a lad. And yet, he decided not to tell me that my childhood best friend was his ringleader."

I wanted to interject and defend Hoseok—a natural reflex for me of late—but I reined it in and let him continue. 

"Anyway, it began to worry me how much you lot were cosying up to her gang; dunno if I was more afraid that y'all'd find out who she was to me, or that she'd discover who I was. When we were all scattered like we were, I just got more and more afraid of what might happen, and… I was a little afraid of how things were lookin' with the posse as it was. The lads started lookin' to you more than me lately so it felt like everything was changing. It might've been a rotten thing to do, but I was scared, so I needed to get away for a while. Can't tell you how shocked I was to see this feller knockin' on my hotel room door in the middle of the night, though, I'll tell you that."

Ahote grinned, looking pleased with his slightly humorous cameo in the story. I couldn't help but smile as well. His was almost as infectious as Hoseok's. 

"What's the worst that could happen if she finds out who you are? Or if you see her?" I asked, curious as to what the underlying problem was.

Namjoon struggled to begin his explanation. I gave him all the time he needed, intimately familiar with emotional constipation.

"We were so close," he said quietly, not looking at either of us. He finished his drink as another excuse to pause. "We grew up together, and I knew for a long time that our families intended to wed us. As a child and even a young man, it didn't bother me much. But eventually, as it got clearer and clearer that the time might be coming close for it to actually happen, I started to dread it. I loved her," he said, voice hiking for a second, and he stopped to gulp and calm himself. "But I didn't want to marry her. Our relationship wasn't like that, I couldn't bear the thought of…" 

And for a few moments he didn't seem to know how to explain. Or maybe he did, and he was just afraid to do so. Eventually, after tense silence that I hoped didn't make him feel pressured, he found a way to continue.

"Of having kids," he said first, but then, stammering a little as he explained, "I mean, not kids as much as… sex. I… can't. I don't want that, ever, and… I was scared of her or any of my family finding out." 

I blinked, taking a few moments to understand, but quickly came to the conclusion that it honestly wasn't any of my business. I realised that his whole reason for leaving home was to avoid the unfair shame he would face for not wanting to start a family, at least in the traditional sense. I didn't really know what to say in response, but as I looked around awkwardly, I did a double-take on Ahote and his flabbergasted expression. 

"But sex is the best!" He exclaimed, somehow sounding innocent, and Namjoon and I both chuckled, mostly surprised at his unexpected outburst. 

From behind us, a quiet voice questioned, "what did I just walk in on?" 

I got up and turned to face Hoseok, setting my drink down. He looked much more relaxed now, eyelids heavy and shoulders sagging. I couldn't help but let the sight of his half-dried hair drooping into his eyes remind me of the last time I'd seen him freshly bathed, and I rushed to distract myself from the images it conjured. 

"Feel better?" I asked, changing the subject so I didn't allow myself to linger in front of his very lightly dressed frame. 

"Like a million bucks," he said with a very slight smile. "I think I'm ready to sleep…" 

"Great," I said, which wasn’t quite enough to express how relieved I was. I took him to his room and pulled the covers back, busying my hands so to keep my gaze from his sheer night shirt. He sank into bed with exactly the kind of pleasured sound I could have done without at that moment, and I helped tuck him in while awkwardly keeping my distance. God knows if I let his skin touch mine I might have melted. I did not have the energy to resist him.

I backed away a step, rubbing my palms against each other for want of something to do about how uncomfortable I was, and eventually decided just to go. "Sleep well," I felt obliged to say, feeling as though I should have at least offered to get him anything he needed, but he stopped me before I could leave. 

"Can… you stay with me?" He asked, low and nervous, and I gulped. Despite feeling hesitant, I rushed back to the bed, but on the other side this time. I'd dreamt about sleeping beside him again, night after night. I could hardly believe it was about to happen again, and at his behest. "Just until I fall asleep," he followed with as I dressed down and kicked my boots off. 

"I'll stay as long as you want."

I hoped he didn't notice I was shaking just a little as I laid down beside him, flat on my back with my eyes on the canopy. My heart raced, a stark opposite to the sound of his breaths slowing beside me with every passing moment. He would be asleep in no time, I hoped, lying on his side facing me, and maybe I would find a way to calm down after that. 

"Thank you," he breathed at some point, and I knew not long after that he drifted off. The sense of relief slowly helped me relax, and thankfully my own exhaustion outweighed my shaken heart. I dared glance over at him, and the only streak of moonlight in the room shed enough light to see the pretty outline of his face. This didn't feel real, but because I knew it was, I could rest easy. And finally I did, lulled into a peaceful slumber by his slow, deep breaths. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Hope you liked! Here are some pics of places that could possibly be Hobi's home in the city:


	31. High Spirits

Hims dancin! It's winter in RDR online so I made a crismis gif uwu

Please forgive my hiatus; I won't leave this fic to die!

~~~~~~~~~~

_Yoongi's POV_

  
  
  
  


It took quite some time to wake from such a deep sleep. It felt like I'd been out for days. So hesitant to open my eyes that I probably snoozed for over half an hour, I eventually felt the need to check on the world I'd been so heavily unconscious to. When I blinked to bring life to my eyes, it was light enough to see the whole room clearly, that tiny crack in the curtain spilling bright sun across the hardwood floor. A slightly hectic feeling cleared the morning fog from my brain, reminding me about Hoseok, and I rolled over onto my back to look for him. 

Lying half propped up on his side with his head on his hand and a soft smile on his lips, Hoseok looked… indescribable. His hair had dried fluffy and wavy, and there was a pink tone to his cheeks that I hadn't seen on him in days. There was a yellowing bruise around his eye that was much better healed than the day before. He was looking at me so calmly, though his brows rose when I met his gaze. Still blinking tiredly, I tried to stop staring, but I struggled to take in the sight of him, and to believe it was real.

"You stayed," he said, voice deep and husky with sleep. 

"O-of course I did," I managed to say, embarrassed to assume I looked as silly as I felt, gaping at him. 

He didn't seem to mind. "You didn't have to."

"You look amazing," I said, then cleared my throat, directing my eyes elsewhere as I stammered over a way to sound less hopelessly infatuated. "I mean, you look so much better than… before… today." 

His smile widened, eyes dropping from mine as well. When I looked back at him he looked shy, cheeks darkening just a touch. "Thanks to you fellers, as usual."

"How do you feel?"

He found my eyes again and shrugged. "I don't feel like I need it anymore, at least not right now. I feel good." 

Too relieved to even reply, I felt as though a massive weight had lifted, and from the way his expression changed, it must have shown on my face. "That's so good to hear," I finally managed. 

"It's uh," he began, gaze dropping to the bedsheet between us. "It's real wild how y'all went to all this trouble to help me these past few days," he said quietly, moving his hand to trace the filigree embroidered pattern between us on the blanket we shared. 

I tried to ignore how having his hand so close to me made my throat feel thick, and watching the gentle movement of his fingers almost erased his words from my brain. "We care about you," I said matter-of-factly, not that I thought I needed to, but I knew now how closed-off he'd learnt to be to protect himself from his rough start to life, and it made me think I might need to be more up front about how I felt. And where it had at first felt so confronting to voice my feelings for him, it now felt a little easier, because I'd spent the last few days terrified that I might lose him, and it was dawning on me how lucky I was to have him here with me and in good health. "I would have done anything for you. And I'd do it all again in a heartbeat." 

I couldn't tell what his reaction to my words was at first, because despite suddenly looking right at me, he went very still. It felt like a lot longer than the few seconds it was, but before I realised what he was doing, his hand was on my cheek and his lips were on mine. And he felt so unreal. He let out a pleased hum when my hands found his face, a finger tracing the shell of his ear and palms on either side of his jaw. This felt right. Somehow, kissing him like this seemed just as good a way of showing him how I felt. He must have felt it too, the way I adored him, how precious he was to me without having to hear it. But I would tell him anyway. I felt it building in my chest and my throat as our lips moved in time, and he shuffled over gently until he was all but on top of me. Absolutely feverish for him, I didn't want to stop for long enough to say it, but in a short pause for heavy breaths, it came out strong and assured, _"I love you."_ He made a desperate, almost tortured sound and crashed his lips to mine again. 

It was clear now that he wanted me as much as I wanted him. Not just for my body, or just because I asked. Hot breaths mixed between us as he sought new ways to be pressed against me; hands diving into my hurriedly unbuttoned undergarments, thigh pressing deliberately against my crotch. It was uncharacteristically chaotic, as though he had lost all of his confidence. The way he couldn't focus on everything at once, the small excited sounds he was making, it all sparked such excitement in me that I found the courage to undress him. In one pull, he was free of his nightshirt, completely bare atop me. My next exhale trembled. 

Some shuffling and tugging on clothing later and I was as bare as he, feeling his skin against mine anywhere it could be. He moved to straddle my hips, still holding my face and leading a deep, hungry kiss that left me breathless. It was a relief he seemed to be good enough at this for both of us. However, even though kissing was the newest experience for me, having him sit naked on my hips was immediately distracting. My hands slid slowly down his back—wanting to explore it all again but driven by impatience—and held him against me by his waist.

He pulled away just slightly, lips ghosting over mine as he breathed his concern. “Are you feelin’ up to… this?”

“Yeah,” I said without having to think. It was almost laughable to imagine turning him down. But I realised then that maybe I should ask how he was, since I’d automatically assumed that his willing initiation meant he was ready as well. “Uh, how about you?” I breathed back.

He smiled breathlessly, not quite close enough to be out of focus. He was so stunning. “I’m more than well enough. Besides, Doc told me to do things that make me feel good, right?” I wondered if making my soul shake in such a way was deliberate. 

“Right.” For a few moments we just looked at each other, taking all of this in. I felt like I couldn’t move with his eyes in mine. This was too perfect; I was scared to somehow ruin it. 

“I wanna make you feel good, too,” he whispered, his gaze wandering my face. He looked so sincere, almost careful; a far cry from the casual confidence I remembered from past intimate encounters. 

I had to take a deep, steadying breath before I could answer. “Be my guest.” 

The way he kissed me then was more careful, too; slow and soft with fingers at the base of my neck, just feeling. This was a side of Hoseok I didn't know at all. I slid my hands up his sides, feeling tingles of heat from the way his body felt under my palms. I moved searching touches across his back and to his spine, dragged my nails down the centre to make him writhe. He hummed against my lips when I got to his behind, and he lost track of kissing when I gripped his flesh in both hands. 

His expression showed delighted surprise, a soft moan tumbling from his lips as I kneaded his ass experimentally. The dreams I'd had about discovering him like this didn't even come close to the real thing. Filled with such excitement, such lust for him and everything yet to come, I rolled him onto his back and slid over him to change our positions. That seemed to encourage him, and he pulled my face down to kiss me again, a little harder, a little faster. His tongue on my lips lit a fire in my belly. My moan made him whimper, ecstatic. It was as though we took turns trying something bold, something that would make the other twitch or sigh in just the right way, and it made me realise that this was a little intimidating to him as well. 

During a short pause for catching our breath, I let my eyes wander. The skin around his mouth, freshly shaven last night, was a slight pink shade from my less-recently shaved lip, but it didn't seem to slow him down. His silver jewelry was a little tangled in his thick black hair. His sharp jaw and slender neck looked so inviting, and I began my kiss again just below his ear. I'd wanted to kiss him like this for a while. 

Hoseok’s arms slid around my shoulders as he hummed in pleasure. Encouraged, I trailed kisses down his chest, across his ribs, and slowly edged backwards over him until my lips were at his hip bone, gently taunting. I expected him to have said something by now, but he just watched, propped up on his pillows, his belly rising and sinking with quick breaths. For once I didn't feel like I needed to check that he would accept my advances, but I did anyway. 

"Can I…?" I asked softly, moving a hand to his thigh and sliding it up gently as I looked in his eyes.

 _" Mmh, please_ _,"_ came his reply, almost as though I was taking too long and he was losing patience. His begging tone made my groin throb. I couldn't get used to him wanting me. 

My hand slid across his pelvis to touch him, _finally_ , but I paused for just a split second, confused by the bare, soft skin of his crotch. Apparently his face wasn't the only thing he shaved. I tried to breeze past it, but he noticed me hesitate. My brow quirked, and his mimicked it.

"What, never seen the hedges trimmed?" He asked, voice a little too soft and breathy to convey his chosen tone. 

I shook my head just a touch, holding back a smile. "I haven't, but I like it," I assured him. "I think." I certainly didn't dislike it. Reassured by his fingers lightly caressing my arm, I turned my attention to where I planned to kiss him next. He moaned quite delightedly when my lips touched teasingly to the base of his cock. I settled myself between his thighs and hummed back, feathering my lips up his length, enthralled. 

I hurried a little then, desperate to start before I thought too hard about what I was doing. As I took him into my mouth his hips shifted, tilted back as his spine arched. I didn't know, really, what to do, but I experimented and quickly found what he liked. I felt as though no time had passed as his moans became longer, and his cock grew heavier on my tongue. I could see this being addictive; everything felt so good. His hand in my hair guided me just enough. It reminded me of that desire I'd felt all that time ago to know if he could have taken me deeper in his mouth, in his throat. I'd have to save that thought for another time, because suddenly he was tugging me upwards then, until I was kissing his lips. 

His throaty sounds got to me more than anything physical; my cock twitched as he moaned against my mouth, his tongue diving past my lips to stroke mine. He emphasised his arousal by bucking his hips up against mine. His hard, slick length pressed beside mine just right, and sparks crawled across my skin. That, in combination with his hungry, messy kissing, distracted me from his fingers until they were wrapped around my cock. I groaned against his lips: I'd missed this. 

But the way he touched me was different as well, less confident, at least to begin with. Not that there was anything wrong with that; his hesitance made me feel more justified in mine. So much had changed between us since the last time we were together that it made sense that it would be different. It dawned on me that he was touching me just the way I used to touch him; as though I wasn't sure he would want me to, or that I wouldn't do it right. Maybe all he needed was a little reassurance. 

_" Mmmh_ _,"_ I moaned into the kiss, searching for an opportunity to speak. He moaned back, a relatable excitement in his eyes when I pulled away to look at him. "I love this," I whispered, then dipped to kiss his cheek. "When you touch me there." I moved my lips to his ear. "Drives me crazy," I sighed, and I kissed his temple before changing sides to kiss the other soft cheek. 

_" Oh,_ _"_ he breathed, and suddenly he gripped me tighter, starting to rub me more purposefully. My hips pushed into it instinctively as another hum rumbled in my throat. He was in full control of me, even when he was as hesitant as this. "Good, I like you like that." His voice was just above a whisper, dripping with lust and mischief. 

"Mmm?" I hummed against his cheeks as I moved kisses down his jaw and under his ear. 

"Mhm. I like it when you're gentle, but even more when you fuck me rougher." 

I felt his words send tendrils of heat down my middle and straight to my groin. He grinned widely as my cock twitched in his hand. "Is that what you want?" I asked, knowing the answer but wanting to hear him say it. 

But he took it somewhere different. "I just want you." 

I pulled back to stare at him, and even if on some level I already knew that, it made my heart thud to hear it so plainly, and so sincerely. His eyes held just as much playful desire, maybe more so having seen the effect it had on me. He lifted his head to kiss me and used his free hand to pull me down against his pillows. "Now don't dally too long, or I might chicken out," he said with a shy smirk, and vague concern pulled me out of my daze. 

"Are you worried?" 

He cleared his throat. "You seem uh," he began, and he beckoned downwards with his eyes. "-a lot _larger_ when I'm sober."

My face and neck lit up in flames. Even if it should have felt like a compliment, his phrasing didn't exactly flatter. "Oh," I said, feeling awkward now. "We… don't have to." It hadn't occurred to me at all that this would be different for him when he wasn't high. I had been so present for every experience with him, but I had never noticed how he might have felt. I remembered him struggling at the start when we had sex, but he didn't even hesitate to keep going, so I didn't think on it again. 

"Don't worry yerself," he said with a genuine smile, hand soothing me at my nape, fingers massaging my balls just right. "I'm sure I'll forget I ever stressed once we start."

"A-as long as you're sure." 

He didn't miss the concern in my voice, even if it was hardly more than a breathy rasp. "I know you'll be gentle. And this time I can make it a little easier." As he said it he let go of me and shuffled backwards to sit up, reaching for the intricate little end table on his left. I sat up as well, crouched on my knees to watch him. In the drawer was a small bottle, no larger than a jar of perfume, and after my instinctive panic, I realised it wasn't more drugs.

"Oil," I said, trying not to sound too relieved. Realising what he was about to do as he tipped some on his hand, I let out a slow, shuddering breath. 

"It's a real nice one," he said, watching his hand as he coated my whole length. 

"Mm _mmmh_ ," I hummed, attempting to agree with him as my voice trailed off into a pleasured sound. It was quite fragrant, and felt so, so good. "L-lavender?" 

"And clove, but just a touch. It's mostly coconut. Nice?"

I let out another appreciative groan that made him smile his lovely, toothy smile. The slipperiness of his fingers sliding up and down to coat me fully made my legs feel like jelly. I craved his tight grip, but he withheld it. That was the first moment that I really craved to be inside him again, and it didn't take him long to notice. 

"Hell, I didn't think you could get any bigger," he mumbled. Equal parts embarrassed and turned on from his words, I reached into his hair to pull him against me, hiding my flushed cheeks with a kiss. A few moments of rearranging ourselves without more than a second's pause, I was laying over him again, his thighs parted and his warm hand guiding my cock where he wanted it. Panting excitedly around wet kisses, I let him take his time, even if it was agony to feel my tip against his ass and have to wait. It wasn't long, at least, until he let out a low sigh and encouraged me to enter him. It was effortless this time, and absolutely heavenly. Just like I remembered, he was hot and tight inside. His back arched off the bed as his face scrunched for just a second. His breaths were hot and heavy down my chest, and I stopped half way in to make sure he was okay. 

He met my eyes, understanding my hesitation. "Go slow," he breathed, hands moving up my sides leaving trails of warmth. 

This was where instinct had to take over, but I wasn't worried. He was radiating desire, the head of his cock already sticky where it touched just above his navel. Clearly I wasn't doing too badly. I moved just a little, pushing in until the resistance made me pull out again, almost all the way, and he moaned deep and needy. 

_" Mmmh you feel so good_ _,"_ he said, gripping my arms as he rolled his hips up just slightly. It was almost impossible to think clearly, keep myself in this gentle rhythm while he adjusted, because everything about this was so overwhelming. His expression showed unmistakable pleasure with a hint of tension. This made him a little nervous, too. His body looked too good, better than I ever imagined, strong but soft in its lines and curves and gorgeous honey tones. The sunken look of his belly below his ribs where his cock leaked a few drops on his skin… my mouth was watering. All of that was second to the feel of being inside him, sliding in gently and out again with such ease, I was thrilled to oblige when he finally begged for more. 

He dragged me down on top of him and wound his legs around me, heels digging into my backside to push me deeper. The kiss we'd just begun melted into delirious groans and whimpers as I sank in further, right to my base. He cursed as he held me there, wrapped tight around me for a few long seconds, just panting. A few more hardly coherent mumbles about my endowment had me kissing him again to muffle his comments. I withdrew slowly as soon as he let me, hips tilting back, and the tight drag of his ass around me set my whole body alight. This feeling couldn't be real, surely. As devilish as it felt, I indulged, burying every inch inside him with my next thrust. He clung to me harder. 

Even overthinking and not knowing what to do with my hands, I managed to find a rhythm. His eyes were swimming with lust, and his wet lips stayed parted as hot sounds tumbled out in time with my thrusts. He was too damn hot to look at, absolutely deadly. I dropped my forehead to his chest and moaned, unable to hold it in any longer, that familiar coiling feeling building up more quickly than I expected. Not wanting this to end yet, I slowed my movements to almost nothing and sat up just enough to reach down between us. 

From just a touch of my fingers on his warm, hard flesh, Hoseok moaned, cursed, slid his hands over my shoulders and into my hair, and kissed me like his life depended on it. There was nothing more encouraging than the sounds he made. Focusing on his pleasure, I rubbed him firm and slow, making sure to include every inch, messing with his wet tip to make him gasp. It made him clench around me, too, more and more as he got closer, and I realised I had started instinctively rolling against him again. 

Unable to focus on kissing any longer as our movements became desperate, I just watched him, fixated on the way he responded to everything I was doing. Where before I had felt so dirty thinking of him like this, now it only filled me with warmth. I would never get over making him feel so good. Excitement rippled through me as I noticed his heels dig into me harder and his hands in my hair turn to nails in my shoulders. His voice became desperate like the bucking of his hips against me. I moved to kiss his chest, brush my lips across his skin to his nipple before soothing my tongue over it just the way I would if it was his cock my my mouth, and by the way he writhed I wondered if he thought the same thing. 

He cried out as he came, much too loud not to breach the confines of his bedroom, and I couldn't give a damn who heard how great I made him feel. I didn't let up while he was so tight around me, my pace almost rough while he shot a mess all up his belly. I groaned breathlessly, elated from the feel, the sight, the sound, and everything at once. I kissed along his chest for as long as I could still control myself. Not too long after he was done I tipped over the edge as well, crying out from the surge of pleasure that spread from my groin to the tips of my fingers and toes. His grip on me didn't let up for a while, not his arms, legs, or ass, but he trembled hard and breathed heavily all the way through my climax. He responded to my hoarse moans with delighted hums of pleasure as though to ensure me he felt the same. 

As his limbs relaxed around me and his breaths became slow and deep, I gathered myself up enough to move off of him. Trembling and slick with sweat, we laid sprawled side by side just breathing, just blinking slowly as we took the moment in. I could hardly believe this was real; had to kiss his lips some more to make sure. His hands on me felt unreal as well, brushing lovingly across my cheek or my arm, seeking out sensitive places to feather his soft touch. I hoped he felt even a fraction of my adoration for him from my nervous hands. 

After a while of comfortable silence, his expression went contemplative before a smile crossed his lips.

"What is it?" I asked, voice croaking slightly. 

“You know, in your tent that time when you said 'I don't hate you,' that was a really stupid time to tell me how you felt. Right after sex? Really, Yoongi?” still grinning, he was clearly amused, but I didn't totally understand.

“What do you mean?”

He chuckled, little embarrassed. “It’s just… too uh… I don’t know. You just don’t say it when it ain’t gonna sound sincere.”

“Ah… I think I get it.” Because right after sex I was high on my feelings for him. But little did he know, it made no difference. I’d been whipped for months. Before, during, after sex, made no difference. If I was brave enough I would have told him I loved him the moment I realised, standing at the bottom of the steps in the Strawberry hotel. Or maybe it was sitting on the floor in front of the fire the day I met Ahote. 

I sighed, thinking back to earlier. "I did it again this morning, didn't I?" 

He hummed his affirmation. "But now I know that you mean it." 

I relaxed, relieved. "I do," I said, dipping my head to kiss his shoulder. "I wish it hadn't taken so long to tell you." 

"It was me," he began, shifting a little as though uncomfortable with the thought. "I reckon you'd've been plenty comfortable if I'd been ready to accept a confession. But I wasn't." He sighed, a tiny bitter-sweet smile crossing his lips. "I am now though. As much as it's different and… well I'm not real sure why you feel that way but… I'm yours. As long as you want me, I'm yours." 

That was as good as any confession I'd been hoping for. _Mine_ , I repeated in my head, butterflies in my belly and a tingle of warmth in my cheeks. This would take some getting used to.

When we made it out of bed before long, coaxed by the smell of cooking and Hoseok's grumbling stomach. I dressed in some of his clothing, clean and plain yet more expensive than I was used to. Albeit a foreign luxury, they were soft and comfortable and I considered throwing my own clothes away. 

Ahote and Namjoon were in the kitchen, chatting away comfortably as though they'd known each other their whole lives. While the native boy sat atop a bar stool on the opposite side of the bench, Namjoon turned sausages on the stove as they sizzled, their delightful smell making me salivate. Neither could hide a secret amusement as they watched us exit the room together, but luckily they had the tact to keep quiet. 

"You must be hungry," Ahote said to Hoseok, turning on his bar stool to rest his elbows on his thighs. I was prepared for him to at least take Hoseok's hand if not pull him close, but he refrained, which piqued my interest. It felt like the first time I had seen the two of them stand in arms reach of each other and not touch. Their eye-contact was still noticeable, lingering in a meaningful way that was reminiscent of their past romance. However, I was used to that. 

"You look better," Namjoon observed as well, glancing over his shoulder for just a moment. 

Hoseok looked at Namjoon, even if the other wasn't looking back. "I feel better. Thanks for everything yesterday. I owe you." 

Namjoon hummed dismissively. 

Ahote spoke next, swivelling back towards the bench to beckon in front of him. "We helped ourselves to your kitchen, I hope that is not an issue." On the bench were four plates with cutlery laid out beside them and buttered bread upon them.

Hoseok grinned, finding the seat beside Ahote as he eyed our meals. "Not at all. Any of you are always welcome to help yerselves. Or stay here when you need, or… just anything." His smile was so grateful, and he made sure to meet all of our eyes. I didn't miss the way he moved carefully onto the barstool as though his leg was still in pain, and I wished I could ease it. The main thing was he was in high spirits. 

Namjoon served up a hearty meal and we ate in companionable silence. Ahote peeled oranges to share afterwards, and we sat in front of the unlit fireplace to discuss our plans. 

"So now that we have this under control, what happened to everyone else?" I asked, feeling the most out of the loop. 

Ahote finished his orange wedge and reclined in the single couch. "Taehyung said he would wait for you at our camp, but it has been a while. Maybe longer than they expected."

"They would send word if they moved, wouldn't they?" I mused. I looked over at Namjoon, but he wasn't meeting anyones gaze. He fiddled with a lose stitch in his trousers, frowning slightly. I let him mull over whatever was on his mind. 

Hoseok hummed in thought before speaking. "This is a safe place, and it's a long way to the reserve. It might be better to send word to them to meet us here than for us to journey north-west again."

"You might be right," I said softly. As much as I hated to be a sitting duck while my brother was a country apart from me, I wasn't in much of a condition to ride so far at speed, and neither was Hoseok. On that train of thought, my mind met with something slightly urgent about which I hadn't found the chance to ask. "Where is Mateo?"

Hoseok and Ahote shared a grim glance. My stomach sank. Ahote looked at me, a little sorrowful, but it was Hoseok who spoke. "I'm sure wherever he is he's doin' fine, but… we don't know where he is. Haven't seen him since you was last ridin' him." 

"Nobody brought him home the night I got dragged off?" I asked, my heart beginning to beat faster with worry.

Hoseok shook his head. "He wasn't with the other horses. Almost like yer kidnappers took him, too. But he wasn't there when I found you, either. I looked for him; I swear I did."

I shook my head, not wanting him to feel as though he had to explain himself. "Okay, what matters is he's missing; it's not anyone's fault." 

Ahote straightened a little, looking more concentrated now. "I can keep my ear to the ground; if a stallion like that is for sale, we will hear about it."

It was gut-wrenching to think about, but that was the most likely story. A quality horse like him would fetch plenty of money at auction. I just had to find him. 

"I'll contact everyone I know, Yoongi," Hoseok assured me. "We'll find yer boy." 

I nodded, trying not to lose hope. "I'll buy him if I have to."

~~~~~~~~~~

I wrote this ages ago but I haven't been up to writing the rest. It could be a little while before I sort out what comes next, but don't worry, I will finish it!


End file.
